Anthony G. Attrino
NJ Advance Media
TRENTON, N.J. — A corrections officer at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton was slashed across the face and suffered a broken wrist earlier this week while restraining an inmate, according to the union for state correctional police officers.
“A routine Monday afternoon turned vicious when (the officer) suffered an assault at the hands of an inmate,” Brian Renshaw, president of NJSPBA Local 105.
The inmate was “armed with an edged weapon (and) left a large gash on the left side of his face spanning from his ear to near his lip,” the union president said. The officer also suffered a broken wrist and was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, according to the union.
The inmate was not identified and a spokesman for the state prison system did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Renshaw said it’s unlikely the officer will be compensated while he recovers under the state’s current Sick Leave Injury law, which states an officer must suffer “serious bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or serious, permanent disfiguration.”
“If deemed eligible, the officer who was attacked on Monday will receive benefits for only six months,” Renshaw said. A current bill making its way through the legislature would increase the benefit period to 12 months, he added.
A GoFundMe page set up to help the officer with financial hardships had raised $2,615 as of Thursday morning.
New Jersey State Prison, formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is one of the oldest correctional facilities in the United States and houses the most difficult and dangerous offenders in the inmate population, according to the NJ Department of Corrections website.
The prison as of 2018 housed more than 1,500 inmates, according to the NJDOC.