Five former Dutchess County jail guards have been charged for allegedly beating an inmate to a pulp — and even taking a clump of his dreadlocks as a “trophy,” according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.
Kevin Moore was assaulted at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill on Nov. 12, 2013, by Sgt. Kathy Scott, who also goes by Kathy Todd, and correction officers George Santiago Jr., Carson Morris, Donald Cosman and Andrew Lowery, the Manhattan federal court papers say.
Moore, 54, was transported to Downstate for just one night before being taken to Rikers Island.
The sickening attack unfolded after he and another inmate pushed back against being confined in a unit designated for inmates with mental health issues, prompting a guard to radio for assistance from a supervisor, court papers say.
Moore told Scott, Santiago and Morris he was worried that staying in that unit would change his mental health status with the Department of Correction — even though he had no mental health issues.
But the objection led Morris to allegedly start pummeling Moore and hitting him with his baton, the indictment says.
Several other officers forced Moore to the floor and restrained him as the beating continued, with Santiago, Scott, Lowery and Cosman joining in and delivering blows to his face, body and groin.
“Why, Sarge, why? Make it stop,” Moore pleaded to Scott, who allegedly did nothing to stop the beating, the indictment says.
After the assault, Santiago allegedly took Moore’s dreadlocks that had been ripped out, saying he wanted to keep them as a souvenir for his motorcycle, according to the papers.
Moore was locked in solitary confinement for a night before spending 17 days in the hospital with five broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken bones in his face and contusions all over his body.
Meanwhile, the officers cooked up an elaborate coverup of the attack, cleaning up the pool of blood left behind and even going as far as to hit another officer to make it look like Moore assaulted him.
The three guards filed a report saying that Moore pushed another officer into a table, and “only in response, had the correction officers used a reasonable amount of force to restrain Moore,” according to the indictment.
The charging documents point out that Moore never physically threatened the officers.
The five were charged with depriving Moore of his civil rights, conspiracy and falsifying records.
“Inmates may be walled off from the public but they are not walled off from the Constitution,” said Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara at a press conference announcing the charges.
Cosman and Lowery have already pleaded guilty.
Scott and Santiago were scheduled to appear Wednesday in White Plains federal court.
Morris, who was arrested in Coconut Creek, Fla., appeared in a court there.
“These five individuals not only broke the trust placed in them by their fellow correction officers — they broke the law as well,” said state Department of Correction and Community Supervision Acting Commissioner Anthony Annucci. “DOCCS has zero tolerance for any criminal activity involving staff or inmates within our facilities.”