Photo via US Geological Survey/Wikipedia
VICE News is closely watching policing in America. Check out the Officer Involved blog here.Inmates at Rikers Island saved a female corrections officer from being raped by another inmate in a locked Plexiglass-encased watch post at New York's notorious main prison complex over the weekend.The incident occurred around 8:15pm Saturday night after the attacker, 27-year-old Raleek Young, managed to lock himself in the bubble-like post with an unnamed female officer, where he began choking her while masturbating, the New York Daily News reported.A group of inmates helped corrections officers tear away the Plexiglass to create a gap wide enough for one of the inmates to slip through and unlock the security door. The inmates then grabbed and restrained Young, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for the rape of a 13-year-old in 2007.Correction Department spokeswoman Eve Kessler told the Daily News the matter is currently being investigated.The female corrections officer was treated in a hospital following the incident.Prison officials initially classified the attack as routine "use of force," but officers rallied against the assessment, and according to the Daily News, refused to appear at their posts Sunday afternoon.Norman Seabrook, the president of the prison officers' union the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, reportedly convinced officers to return to work, but called for accountability in the case. He also praised the inmates for stepping in."I appreciate [them] helping a sister officer, because that could have been their mother, wife, or sister," he said.A host of new charges were filed against Young on Monday in the Bronx Criminal Court, including assault, attempted rape, sexual abuse, and forcible touching.Photo via Wikipedia
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