NEW YORK CITY — A Rikers Island inmate who knocked out one correction officer, punched a second and slashed a third was arraigned in Bronx Supreme Court Thursday, one day after he pleaded guilty to lighting his cell on fire, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s office.
Inmate Matthew Whittington, 26, from Queens, attacked the three correction officers within a 12-hour span on Aug. 6 and and Aug 7, the DA’s office said.
Whittington struck Correction Officer Brian Nurse and knocked his head on a cell door on Aug. 6 at 7 p.m., then knocked out Officer Malik Medina and slashed Officer Corey Hughes with a scalpel the following morning.
Hughes received a long gash on his right forearm and required 16 stitches to close the wound, according to the DA.
Whittington will face up to seven more years in prison if he is convicted of charges that include two counts of assault, two counts of promoting prison contraband, two counts menacing, one count criminal possession of a weapon, one count of obstructing governmental administration and one count attempted assault, the DA said.
Whittington’s arraignment came one day after he was sentenced with up to seven years for setting his cell on fire in 2014, the DA’s office said.
His lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
