BRONX, NY – A Rikers Island inmate, Rashidi Smith, faces multiple charges including Attempted Murder for a brutal attack on a NYC Department of Correction Officer, leaving the officer unconscious and seriously injured.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that Smith, 31, was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Kim M. Parker on numerous charges. These include Attempted Murder in the first and second degree, first-degree Assault, three counts of second-degree Assault, third-degree Assault, second-degree Obstructing Governmental Administration, and second-degree Harassment. Smith’s remand was continued, and he will appear in court again on November 30, 2023.
According to the investigation, the incident took place on August 23, 2023, at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. Smith allegedly approached a 59-year-old correction officer who was at his post and attacked him. The assault included multiple punches, slamming the officer’s head against a chair and concrete wall, and kicking him while he was on the ground unconscious. Another officer and a detainee intervened, separating Smith from the victim with the aid of pepper spray.
The injured correction officer was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment. He sustained a laceration and hematoma to the back of his head, required a neck brace, and reported loss of feeling in the fingers of his right hand and left arm.