Grim weekend on Rikers Island: stabbing and drug overdose

According to sources, two inmates were stabbed and another overdosed on Saturday as violence and smuggling continue to plague Rikers Island.

The riot began early in the morning when a correctional officer saw three inmates beating inmate Michael Bellevue, 23, who is in jail on robbery charges at the George R. Vierno Center, the source said.

Attack at 5 am – Hafiz Ahmed, 23; Kamani Romain, 23; and Christopher Vasquez, 30, were caught on security cameras at the prison, but officers did not find any weapons during the investigation, the source said.

Bellvue was being treated for non-fatal injuries.

The Department of Corrections did not respond to an email asking for information and comments.

It is not yet clear if the attackers have been charged. Ahmed is awaiting trial for attempted murder and other crimes, Vazquez was charged with murder and tampering with evidence, and Romain was charged with three robberies last September.

Later on Saturday, 23-year-old inmate Paul Grant was stabbed in the chest at the Eric M. Taylor Center.

A corrections officer ordered detainees Carlos Quinones, 50; Luis Rosas, 41; Franklin Santos, 23; and Carlos Correa, 33, to stop the attack around 1:30 p.m., according to the source. But they continued until the guard fired pepper spray at them.

Grant, who is behind bars on charges of drugs, assault, threats and petty theft, was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he received medical treatment for non-fatal injuries to his chest, back and right arm.

It is not clear if the alleged assailants, who are at Rikers, were charged in the incident for assault and gun violations.

Also on Saturday, prisoner Ozzbourne Thomas was found unconscious and unconscious on his bed in the North Infirmary of the island prison, the source said. A corrections officer called for help at 12:25 p.m., and prison medical personnel arrived to administer Narcan, an injection or inhalation drug that revives the overdose victim.

Thomas, who has been in jail since February 2020 for sexual assault, was able to breathe on his own again by 1:20 p.m., the source said.

Violence and drug use among prisoners has been a problem for Rikers for decades.

A court-appointed monitor has been monitoring prison violence since 2015, and there has been talk among civil rights advocates and elected officials of a federal takeover of the prison to address the issue.

Drug abuse and smuggling within the prison complex proved fatal to the inmates. Of the 19 prisoners who died behind bars in 2023, four died of overdose.