By Sarah Tan
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A pair of city Department of Correction officers were arrested Friday for assaulting an inmate at Rikers Island and then trying to cover up the incident, authorities said.
Victor Rodman, 49, was indicted on assault charges after hitting a prisoner during an inmate-on-inmate scuffle in July 2009, a Department of Investigation probe revealed.
Rodman struck one of the inmates on the left side of his face, breaking his nose and causing permanent vision loss in one eye, the DOI said.
Rodman had been visiting Michelle Hubert, 43, at her assigned location in an area of the jail he wasn't authorized to visit when the event occurred, the department noted.
Rodman initially denied being in the location at the time of the fight, but amended his statement to say he was there but did not use force against the inmate, the DOI said.
Hubert is charged falsifying a report to say that Rodman was not in the housing area at the time of the assault, the department added.
"These defendants are charged in a disturbing inmate assault and cover up, betraying their integrity and the city's trust in them," DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said in a statement.
Rodman, of Long Island, has been an employee of the Department of Corrections since 1987. Hubert, of New York City, has been an employee since 2006. Both have been suspended without pay.
If convicted, Rodman faces up to seven years in prison for assault and falsifying records. Hubert faces up to a year for falsifying records.
