Overview

• Two Emergency Services Unit officers were cut at Rikers Island’s North Infirmary Command late Wednesday by a detainee wielding a small ceramic scalpel that standard scanners often miss.
• Both officers were treated at the jail clinic and then taken to Booth Memorial Hospital, where they received sutures, including 17 stitches to one officer’s scalp.
• The detainee was identified in reporting as Sundance Oliver, who has been accused of numerous prior assaults in custody and faces open violent felony cases, according to records and union statements.
• The Department of Correction has restricted the detainee to booth-only visits, limited his movement to ESU escorts, and opened an inquiry into how the ceramic blade was obtained.
• Accounts differ on the incident’s exact timing and circumstances, with one internal report citing a 10:52 p.m. transfer and others describing a response to an earlier cell fire; the union is pressing for expanded use of solitary confinement and more staffing as federal oversight of DOC policies continues.