A correction officer was stabbed in the face with a sharpened toothbrush during a confrontation at Auburn Correctional Facility that left several staff members injured, according to the union representing state correction officers.
The attack was one of three violent incidents reported at the maximum-security prison over a five-day period, the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association said.
The union said an officer was frisking an incarcerated man on July 28 when the man pulled out the makeshift weapon and stabbed the officer in the cheek. He then allegedly threw a chair that struck a responding sergeant in the upper body and continued fighting as officers attempted to restrain him.
The wounded officer was taken to Thompson Health in Canandaigua for treatment. The sergeant and three other officers were treated at the prison for injuries involving their knees, shoulder, wrist and eye and remained on duty, according to the union.
Officials identified the weapon as a sharpened toothbrush. The 44-year-old is serving a sentence of 35 years to life following a second-degree murder conviction in Monroe County.
Earlier that day, officers intervened when two incarcerated men knocked a third man to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked him, the union said. After staff separated the group, the man who had been attacked allegedly began fighting one of the others, prompting officers to use pepper spray and move all three to a special housing unit.
One of the men later became unresponsive, and officers administered Narcan, according to the union. After he regained consciousness, he was taken to the infirmary, where he allegedly threatened staff and attempted to attack responding officers before being subdued. A sharpened toothbrush believed to have been used during the earlier assault was recovered.
The first incident occurred July 24 in the prison recreation yard, where two incarcerated men were seen exchanging punches. Officers used pepper spray after they ignored repeated orders to stop fighting.
One of the men suffered a puncture wound to his forehead and cuts to his neck and eyebrow that medical staff determined were caused by a weapon. Officers searched the area but did not recover the object, the union said.
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