The violent melee was triggered over a grilled cheese sandwich, a jail insider said. Members of the Trinitarians, a Dominican gang, were upset their rival Crips were not letting them use a hot plate to cook the snack.
This inmate's eye was cut by a broom stick in the ferocious fight.
A wild gang fight involving as many as 50 inmates on Rikers Island went on for nearly an hour, sources said Thursday.
The violent melee was triggered over a grilled cheese sandwich, a jail insider said.
Members
of the Trinitarians, a Dominican gang, were upset their rival Crips
were not letting them use a hot plate to cook the snack.
7ONLINE.COM
The violent gang fight was reportedly triggered by an disagreement over a grilled cheese sandwich.
In video of the bloody Aug. 5 brawl obtained by WABC/Ch. 7, inmates are seen tossing chairs and attacking each other with mop sticks while a group of officers looked on in horror.
One
inmate also hurled hot water and several were slashed during the fight
at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, according to sources.
Eleven inmates, some with serious stab wounds, and one officer, were injured during the roughly 45 minute fight.
This inmate was one of the 11 inmates who were injured in the fight.
The horrifying fight started at 9:20 p.m. and lasted until shortly after 10 p.m., according to sources.
The Correction Department is looking into why the fight wasn’t broken up sooner.
The union representing correction officers has long complained about the lack of staffing in city jails.
Several inmates suffered stab wounds in the brawl, which lasted roughly 45 minutes.
"We
don't have the staff to break it up. The officers certainly can't go in
there with just 3 officers against 60 inmates," said Correction
Officers Benevolent Association president Norman Seabrook.
The number of correction officers has dropped from roughly 10,000 to 8,000 over the past 10 years.
“While
the housing unit was fully staffed - and a considerable number of staff
and supervisors on post in the jail and on Rikers Island responded -
there is every indication that this situation could have been handled
differently and that this incident went on far too long,” said
department spokesman Eldin Villafane.
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The fight occured at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island on Aug. 5.
But
jail sources said the facility is dangerously short-staffed when
officers protecting the center’s corridors end their shift at 9 p.m.
“There’s nobody there,” the source said.
“Had they gone in and tried to break it up they would have gotten their asses kicked.”
EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The union representing correction officers has long complained about the lack of staffing in city jails.
The department initially sent in a skilled “probe” team of officers to break it up but to no avail.
The fight only ended after both sides agreed to stop on their own, with some seeking medical attention, sources said.
More than 30 inmates are facing added criminal charges or have been shipped off to solitary, sources said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/violent-fight-rikers-island-hour-article-1.1434413#ixzz2crnjJmDB
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