By Chelsia Rose Marcius
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A Rikers Island correction officer was nearly raped after a stark-naked inmate sprung up on the woman and pulled down her pants, union officials charge.
Detainee Antonio Rich allegedly attacked the officer just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday in an upper housing area at Otis Bantum Correctional Center, union officials said — the third sexual assault on a city jail guard in the last two months.
“The inmate ran into the housing area she was stationed in completely naked and tried to pull her pants off,” Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Elias Husamudeen said.
“Fortunately, two other COs were able to intercede and pull the assailant off, saving her from being raped and possibly killed.”
Two male guards rushed to the female officer’s aid, successfully pulling Rich off of their shaken colleague, union officials said. All three correction officers were taken to Mount Sinai hospital for treatment, officials said.
The attack comes less than two months after a 29-year-old inmate tried to sexually assault another female correction officer at Rikers’s Anna M. Kross Center. That same week, on June 18, 22-year-old Jose Muñiz — one of the five men accused of the brutal machete murder of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz — allegedly tried to rape another female correction officer at Manhattan Detention Complex.
“This incident also reaffirms why [DOC] should alert our members as to the backgrounds of the inmates they are supervising so they can take added precautions,” Husamudeen said in reference to Saturday’s attempted rape.
The DOC could not comment on the latest incident but confirmed it was under investigation and that the department’s CARE unit is providing the female officer support.
“The safety and security of our correction officers is a top priority,” department spokesman Jason Kersten said in a statement. “Thankfully, other officers were present and able to intervene in this incident and prevent any serious injuries. We have zero tolerance for violent behavior towards our officers and civilian staff and we are pursuing re-arrest of the detainee with the Bronx District Attorney.”
Rich, who was being held at Rikers since May for third degree assault, also had a warrant out for attempted rape.
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