Inmates At Rikers Island Saved A Female Prison Guard From Being Raped

A Rikers Island correction officer owes her life to the jail's inmates who banded together to save her.

The New York Daily News reports on Saturday night, 27-year-old prisoner Raleek Young told the female guard he needed to collect a mattress from a different part of the jail and pass through the facility's plexiglass security bubble to do so.

Security video reportedly shows that upon entering the room, the 290-pound man assaulted the woman and dragged her to the connected bathroom.

Ripping her sweater and blocking the door, Young proceeded to masturbate while strangling the female guard.

As the jail's other guards attempted to break into the bubble, a group of inmates reportedly helped them tear away at the glass-like material in order to save the woman's life.

According to the Daily News, Young is currently serving a minimum of five years after raping a 13-year-old girl in 2007.

The officer in question was supposedly treated by medical professionals after the assault.

Norman Seabrook, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, told the Daily News,

I appreciate (them) helping a sister officer because that could have been their mother, wife or sister.

Rikers Island management reportedly categorized the incident as “use of force” instead of as assault, but the label is being reconsidered after the woman's fellow officers declined to begin their afternoon shift Sunday out of protest.

Citations: Rikers Island Inmates Save Female Prison Guard From Attempted Rape (Opposing Views)