Jail capt. in charge faces transfer: sources
7 new arrests in beating of Brooklyn girl
He’s certainly no stranger to emergencies.
The Metropolitan Correctional Center captain in charge when Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself is expected to be transferred to a new lockup where he will serve as “emergency preparedness officer,” sources tell the Daily News.
Jermaine Darden’s move to FCI Fort Dix, a low-security prison in Burlington County, N.J., was delayed due to the ongoing lockdown at the dysfunctional jail in lower Manhattan, according to a source.
As captain, Darden oversees lieutenants and correctional officers at MCC. Among those under his command were Officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, who are accused of sleeping on the job and falsifying records the night of Epstein’s death.
A source doubted that Darden was at the jail when Epstein was found hanging in his cell at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10 but was confident he was one of the first people called about it.
Thomas’ attorney Montell Figgins said Darden’s transfer and new title was yet another example of the upper ranks of the Metropolitan Correctional Center facing no consequences for systemic Bureau of Prisons failures that allowed the accused sex trafficker to avoid facing justice.
“It shows you the hubris of the system,” Figgins said. “They couldn’t care less about the reality of what they’re dong. They would take this person, who was involved in this incident, and give him another title?”
Darden, 48, declined to comment.
The transfer follows a pattern similar to that of Lamine N’Diaye, the correctional center warden during the Epstein debacle. N’Diaye was moved to a desk job at a regional office in Pennsylvania days after the suicide. He was expected to assume a leadership role at Fort Dix in February until U.S. Attorney General William Barr intervened and ordered the transfer be put on hold while investigations into Epstein’s death continue, The Associated Press reported.
Darden’s new title at Fort Dix could come with a pay raise, a source said.
Working at the low-security lockup in New Jersey should be less stressful than at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
The 12-story jail next door to Manhattan Federal Court has been reeling since Epstein’s suicide. The building’s infrastructure is crumbling. Morale is at rock bottom following the arrests of Thomas and Noel. A gun smuggled into the jail prompted an ongoing lockdown and forced overworked staff to put in even longer hours. The FBI is investigating the flow of contraband into the facility.
Figgins made the case that Darden’s leadership was one of many problems at the Metropolitan Correctional Center at the time of Epstein’s suicide.
“They don’t have any pictures of what happened that night because they didn’t follow proper protocol,” Figgins said. “And yet he gets another position.”
The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on personnel decisions.
Thomas and Noel have pleaded not guilty to charges including filing false records, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
A jail insider described Darden’s role as a difficult one. Correctional officers resented Darden for not being tough enough with inmates while medical staff resented him for being too rigid about regulations, the insider said.
“He had a reputation for not being liked by anyone,” the insider said.
Systemic issues in the Bureau of Prisons were ultimately to blame for the Epstein suicide, the source said.
“It’s impossible to be at work 24 hours a day,” the insider said of Darden. “But it is on you to make sure the right people are in place and are doing their jobs.”
Seven more teens have been arrested for the brutal beatdown of a 15-year-old girl in Brooklyn, cops said Sunday.
The teens, ranging in ages from 14 to 16, were charged with robbery and gang assault for the attack at Sterling Place and Utica Ave. in Crown Heights about 4 p.m. on Thursday. They were all nabbed over the weekend, authorities said.
The attack sparked an outcry from local officials and advocates after the NYPD released shocking footage (bottom) of the attack.
“This is unacceptable,” Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said in a Facebook Live post Friday morning. “And it’s not funny. It’s not cute. It’s not something we can ignore and act like it did not happen.”
The video shows the girl being chased and brought down on the sidewalk before a group of 18 teens swarmed from all directions, stomping, kicking and punching her while she curled up into a fetal position.
The ruthless mob robbed the girl of her sneakers and cell phone before taking off. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital.
Four boys were arrested on Saturday while two more boys and one 14-year-old girl were busted Sunday.
On Friday, five attackers turned themselves in to the police accompanied by their parents.
Four of the 12 total suspects had been arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court by Sunday morning while the others still waited to be processed.
It is not clear yet whether the teens will be tried as adults or juveniles because the youth section of Brooklyn Supreme Court is closed until Monday.