$20M suit in slash
AN INMATE slashed in the face by one of the city’s most notorious detainees plans to sue the city for $20 million in damages.
David Marrero’s lawyer filed a notice of claim against the city — arguing correction officers failed to properly protect him from his alleged attacker, Steven Sidbury, 25, also known as John Doe.
Marrero, 37, was cut on the cheek and above his eye inside the George R. Vierno Center lockup at 6:42 p.m. Saturday, according to Correction Department records. The attack occurred in the lockup’s gym.
“(Marrero) should never have been there,” said his lawyer, Pamela Roth, noting he uses a cane to walk.
The notice of claim alleges that Marrero, who is awaiting trial on murder charges, was surrounded by six to eight correction officers before Sidbury attacked.
“They did nothing,” Roth charged. Her client was severely injured and needed multiple stitches. Marrero’s mother said she heard about what happened to her son via Facebook.
A gruesome photo of his injuries was posted by a group of current and retired correction staffers.
“My son saw it and sent me the picture,” the distraught mother, Marline Aloe, said Monday.
She called the jail, but has gotten little information. The facility has been on lockdown since the attack.
The Marrero lawsuit is the latest in a ballooning number of cases filed against the scandal-scarred Correction Department.
There were 4,321 cases filed in 2016, nearly triple the 1,463 brought in 2007, said the city controller’s office, which tracks the cases.
The department doled out $31.3 million to settle cases in 2016, up from the $17 million in similar cases in 2007, records show.
A city Law Department spokesman said “the city will review” Marrero’s claim.
“The vast majority of our officers carry out their duties with care and integrity, and we are taking many steps to ensure that all staff adhere to the highest professionalism,” added Correction Department spokeswoman Eve Kessler.
Also Monday, Correction Officer Rodiny Calypso, 38, was arrested after allegedly punching and elbowing a handcuffed inmate.
Prosecutors said Calypso attacked the prisoner near the shower area at Rikers’ Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Feb. 27, 2014.
Calypso tried to cover his tracks by falsely claiming the inmate spit on him, justifying the attack, the Manhattan U.S. attorney said.
Calypso was released $150,000 bond.
“We await the opportunity to address the specific allegations in court,” his lawyer Joey Jackson said.
Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte said the agency has “zero tolerance for any illegal behavior on the part of staff, and this officer will be suspended.” on a