Another Rikers Island correction officer is facing serious accusations, with a federal lawsuit claiming that the officer broke a mentally challenged elderly inmate’s arm before lying about how the woman became injured, according to the New York Post.
According to the lawsuit, the inmate, M.J. Norwick, 77, had recently returned to the Queens, N.Y., jail after being treated at Elmhurst Hospital for a heart attack when the elderly woman was assaulted by Correction Officer Charlene Rosado in March 2014.
“Without any warning of her intent to use extreme physical force, C.O. Rosado suddenly and violently pushed Norwick to the ground,” the lawsuit claims. “[Department of Correction] investigators reviewed video footage of the incident, describing that: In one motion, C.O. Rosado turns to inmate Norwick and appears to, with both hands, forcefully shove her at her shoulders straight down onto her back.”
When Rosado filled out a “use of force” report, she claimed that Norwick fell “of her own accord.”
However, witnesses, including a doctor at the jail, outed the correction officer, disputing her claims.
“Dr. Murphy was in shock because she had witnessed the force and she didn’t think the officer needed to push her. She didn’t understand why that happened, and in her judgment, Norwick could have just been taken by the elbow and escorted back to her bed,” the lawsuit states.
Norwick suffered fractured radius and ulna bones on her right and left sides.
The Post further reports that other correction officers, including a Department of Correction captain, attempted to cover up the alleged attack.
“A witness overheard a DOC captain [say] ‘Get on the phone and tell them to get rid of the tapes,’” the suit claims, the Post reports.
Read more at the New York Post.