NY Corrections Officers Allegedly Ripped Off Inmate's Dreadlocks For 'Trophy'

Five corrections officers have been arrested and charged for brutally beating an inmate at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill, New York—leaving the victim with broken bones, a collapsed lung and his dreadlocks ripped out—then conspiring to cover up the attack.

According to the US Attorney's Office, Kathy Scott, George Santiago, Jr. and Carson Morris have all been charged with conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to falsify records, and falsifying records in the 2013 beating of inmate Kevin Moore, 54, that left him hospitalized for 17 days. Two other officers who participated in the alleged beating and cover-up, Donald Cosman and Andrew Lowery, have already pled guilty to similar charges and are cooperating with the prosecutors.

The incident happened on November 12th, 2013, when the officers in question surrounded Moore and another inmate, instructing them to remove their shoelaces because they were going to be confined in Forensic Diagnostic Unit cells, which are designed for inmates with mental health issues. When Moore objected to being confined in a mental health cell, saying he had a good lawyer and that he was “a monster," Morris allegedly punched him and the others threw him on the ground.

Here are the sickening details of the alleged beating from the US Attorney's office:

After the officers forced Moore to the ground, the defendants beat Moore for several minutes, striking him dozens of times. Defendant Santiago kicked and punched Moore multiple times, and at one point, reared back and kicked Moore in the face, and then laughed. Defendant Morris punched and struck Moore with his knee multiple times while Moore was prone on the floor. Moore’s pants fell down during the beating, and Cosman and Lowery punched and kicked him in his exposed groin as he lay on the floor. Both Scott and Santiago taunted Moore by saying, “Who’s a monster now?” During the beating, dreadlocks were ripped from Moore’s head and Santiago later retrieved the dreadlocks, saying that he wanted to keep them as a souvenir for his motorcycle.

Sergeant Scott was present for and watched over the entire beating without stopping the violence. At one point while Moore was on the floor being beaten, Scott grabbed him herself. She also directed that Moore be held in place on the ground, rendering him even more exposed to punches and kicks. While Moore was being beaten, he cried out in pain, begged for the beating to stop, and pleaded with Sergeant Scott, “Why, Sarge, why? Make it stop.”

After the beating, the correction officers needed to physically lift Moore from the ground, where he was lying in a pool of his own blood. Moore suffered several fractured ribs, several facial fractures, and a collapsed lung, in addition to other injuries. Instead of being sent to the hospital for treatment, Moore was locked into solitary confinement to suffer in pain overnight.

Prosecutors say the five all agreed to give false reports about the incident, with Santiago, Morris and Cosman conspiring together by having Santiago strike Cosman on the back with his baton, causing marks, and then blaming the injuries on the prisoner to justify their excessive force.

"Inmates may be walled off from the public, but they are not walled off from the Constitution," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. "And when correction officers viciously beat an inmate in their charge, then collude among themselves to cover it up— as alleged here—they trample on the Constitution and the very laws they have sworn to uphold."

As the Times points out, this case was initially investigated by the Corrections Department’s internal affairs unit, which up until recently was run by corrections officers "who were often reluctant to take action against their fellow officers." The Times notes that any changes in the way the department does its business are unlikely to happen without the cooperation of the corrections officers union—asked by the Times whether brutality by officers was a problem, union president Michael Powers replied, "What are you talking about?"