INSULT TO INJURY
Rikers inmate assaults jailer — then gets released
An inmate savagely beats a guard on Rikers Island — only to walk out on a measly $1,500 bail a week later. An exasperated Department of Correction source said, “It’s likely he will be in our custody again.”
A Rikers Island inmate relentlessly pummeled a jail guard, authorities said — only to be sprung on a mere $1,500 bail a week later.
Rickeem Parker, who records indicate is between 17 and 18 years old, was caught on video beating the jailer on Oct. 5, officials said, then waltzed out on Oct. 12, according to the Department of Correction.
He had been arrested Sept. 19 on assault and harassment charges. It’s unclear if he or someone else put the money up for his release.
Video of the vicious attack emerged Sunday, sparking calls for action from the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association.
The clip begins with Parker and the officer standing chest-to-chest in a common area of the Robert N. Davoren Complex when the inmate starts shoving the officer. Fists fly moments later.
For about 15 seconds, the two men exchange blows, with Parker pausing at one point to slide off his own shoes before grabbing hold of the officer, slamming him to the floor and pounding him with his fists.
He then apparently “helps” the guard to his feet, and starts socking him some more.
No other officers or inmates come to the guard’s aid. At one point, one inmate casually crosses the video frame.
The fight moves into a hallway, and the footage cuts to show the inmate shoving the correction officer out of the frame.
Two more inmates arrive to see what the commotion is about just as Parker allegedly hurls a big plastic trash can at the officer.
It was unclear whether he hit his mark because the officer is out of frame, but moments later, the trash can comes sliding back into view, leaving a trail of sludge as the inmate scurries off.
Officials said Parker was initially put into restrictive housing — a punitive segregation for those without serious mental illness — after the brawl.
“This inmate was placed into restrictive housing when this occurred weeks ago and is no longer in our custody,” said Department of Correction spokesman Jason Kersten.
A department source said about the freed Parker, “Given the high recidivism rates, it’s likely he will be in our custody again.”
COBA President Elias Husamudeen decried the violence, saying the city must hire more prison guards.
“This video and others like it are another reminder of why the officer-to-inmate ratio in the NYC DOC needs to change,” he said, before questioning Mayor de Blasio’s plan to close Rikers and replace the troubled detention center with smaller borough jails.
“Building four new jails is not going to reduce violence as long as correction officers remain outnumbered and without the tools they need to maintain law and order,” Husamudeen said.
The Department of Correction has hired 5,700 new officers since April 2014 and saw its largest-ever graduating class in November, according Kersten.
“We are using every tool possible to help officers do their jobs in a secure environment. Thankfully, our officer was not seriously injured,” Kersten said.
Husamudeen likened the assault to a string of videos that have recently surfaced depicting civilians disrespecting cops, including one man who told an officer in a station house to “suck my d- -k.”