THE BRONX — A former Rikers Island correction officer was indicted on charges that he falsely claimed to have assisted an inmate who later died, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson announced Friday.
Wickenson DeMaitre was indicted for his role in the Oct. 1, 2014, death of 53-year-old Victor Woods at Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island, officials said. They said Woods died after not receiving immediate medical attention after inmates alerted corrections officers and DeMaitre responded, but did not call for help.
"I'm 71-years-old, I'm walking around living my life, I got to go on,” said Victor Woods' mother Ruthie Woods, who now lives in Massachusetts. “I got a relationship with God and that helps me but it’s not going to bring my baby back.
"It hurt to know that he suffered,” she added. “And it's something that could have been preventable.”
Correction officers are required to call for medical assistance if inmates request it.
Woods eventually received medical attention from Rikers health care provider Corizon, but was incorrectly examined and misdiagnosed, according to a complaint filed in March by his family in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The city’s chief medical examiner ruled the cause of death as a gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to peptic ulcer disease of the duodenum.
According to the complaint, NYPD officers assaulted Woods causing blunt force trauma to his torso and internal organs when they arrested him Sept. 24, 2014, in Harlem. By the day he died, Woods had 750 ml of blood in his stomach, and was unable to stand or walk, the complaint stated.
Woods had been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.
DeMaitre, who worked at Anna M. Kross Center since 2001, claimed to have sought medical attention for Woods, but security footage showed that he didn’t, officials said.
He was charged with seven counts, according to court documents. Six counts, including two felonies, accuse DeMaitre of filing false reports stating that he was the first responder and called for help. The seventh count accuses him of depriving another person of a benefit he was required to provide as a corrections officer.
“Victor was a good man, with many people who loved him,” Carmen Giordano, the lawyer for Victor Woods’ family, said in statement. “He was someone who was down on his luck and needed help with a serious drug problem, but he was not a dangerous criminal. He should not have been locked up in the first place, which makes this tragedy extremely harsh and disheartening.”
Giordano added that DeMaitre “was not supposed to be on post during the final hours of Victor's life; he was already determined to be unfit for such duty by the Department of Corrections.”
DeMaitre was terminated in October 2014. According to a Department of Corrections administrative hearing document that recommended DeMaitre be terminated dated Sept. 29, 2014, he violated several personnel rules while off-duty. He was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor, a 15-year-old relative who he sent obscene texts and images; damaging a vehicle; choking his girlfriend; and not showing up for a medical appointment. He was also accused of having a cellphone at work when he shouldn’t have.
“Commissioner (Joseph) Ponte has zero tolerance for mistreatment of any inmate, and this matter is under review,” Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ryan said. “The vast majority of our officers carry out their duties with care and integrity, we are taking many steps to ensure that all staff adhere to the highest professionalism.”
DeMaitre was arrested after an investigation by The City of New York Department of Investigation. He was supposed to surrender Aug. 15, but didn’t until Sept. 24. He posted a $50,000 bond and will appear Dec. 1 in Bronx Supreme Court.
DeMaitre’s arrest the sixth this month and part of a larger investigation of violence and contraband smuggling in the city’s jails, according to the DOI. It said that more than 20 corrections officers and staff members have been arrested since the investigation began.
With additional reporting by Rosa Goldensohn.
