Murder suspect back in jail after Rikers blunder
A New York City murder suspect who was on the lam for more than a month after being mistakenly sprung from Rikers Island in an epic clerical screwup is back behind bars, officials said Friday.
Authorities nabbed Christopher Buggs, 26, in the Bronx at around 12:15 p.m. on White Plains Road, arresting him on a charge of first degree escape for not turning himself in after his accidental release.
“After an intensive manhunt, DOC’s Corrections Intelligence Bureau and the U.S. Marshall’s Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended accused murderer Christopher Buggs who had been erroneously discharged from custody last month,” Department of Correction spokesman Peter Thorne said in a statement.
“We hope that Mr. Buggs’ swift return to Rikers Island provides some comfort to the victim’s family.”
Buggs’ lawyer, Jonathan Fink, said he didn’t believe his client committed a crime when it was jail staffers who committed the screw up that let him walk out of jail.
“He didn’t escape. He was let out of Rikers mistakenly. I don’t believe he’s done anything wrong . ... I don’t know whether he was aware that he was supposed to surrender,” Fink told the Daily News, noting he has not been able to get in contact with Buggs since his release.
“He didn’t miss a court date,” said Fink, adding that Buggs is expected to appear in Brooklyn next week before Judge Vincent Del Giudice, who issued a warrant for his arrest.
The accused killer was supposed to be held without bail while awaiting trial in the January 2018 death of Ernest Brownlee, a 55-year-old ex-con who was shot three times in the chest.
But at a court hearing last month, Buggs hurled a crude sexual insult at the Brooklyn judge, who responded by slapping him with a 30-day sentence for criminal contempt — a move that inadvertently set in motion an improbable series of mistakes that saw Buggs set free after his month-long punishment was up.
Instead of keeping Buggs in jail on his still unresolved murder charge, jail clerks recorded the end of his 30 day sentence as the end of his time behind bars.
The paperwork snafu resulted in Buggs’ release from Rikers on March 9 at 2 a.m., when he was given cash and a MetroCard, and sent on his way.
It was a get-out-of-jail-free card made possible by correction officers and supervisors across a five-step release process who all missed the massive red flag showing that Buggs was charged with murder.
Correction officials and Mayor de Blasio vowed to conduct a full investigation into the mixup, which led to the suspension of two correction officers, a captain and an assistant deputy warden.
Brownlee’s widow, 55-year-old Winifred Mackins, breathed a sigh of relief Friday after learning the man accused of killing her husband was back at Rikers.
“Oh, thank God,” Mackins told The News. “I feel much better now. I feel much happier. It would make my husband feel good [too],” she added, noting she’s been afraid to leave her home since Buggs has been on the loose. “Now he can do his time.”
Buggs’ sister, Destiny Buggs, told The News she didn’t want to get bogged down in the details of his case.
“I really don’t have time for this,” she said. “I’m just glad he’s safe.”