Prison union: Officer in jail beating was disciplined based on race

VIDEO THAT surfaced last week showing a corrections officer in Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility allegedly beating a handcuffed prisoner has spurred allegations of preferential treatment of employees based on race in the city's largest jail.

Curran-Fromhold Warden Michele Farrell recommended a five-day suspension for the officer, James Weisback, for using excessive force, prison spokeswoman Shawn Hawes said. That recommendation is awaiting approval from Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla, Hawes said.

According to Lorenzo North, president of District Council 33, Local 159, the five-day suspension for Weisback, who is white, is the latest example of the warden's preferential treatment of white officers.

In a letter to Giorla dated Oct. 16, North wrote that although he does not suggest harsher discipline for Weisback, "African-American officers who have been accused of lesser offenses . . . have received discipline far in excess of this amount."

North said that black officers accused of using excessive force have "commonly been disciplined for 10, 20 or even 30 days based upon no evidence greater than the word of a supervisor."

North alleged that Farrell "had every intention of sweeping the incident under the rug until the media obtained a copy of the video of the alleged assault."

Hawes, the prison spokeswoman, said yesterday that Farrell's discipline "was not represented properly" in North's letter, and called his assertions hearsay.

The Sept. 20 incident began when Jonathan Akubu, who is jailed on attempted-murder and aggravated-assault charges for a 2013 shooting, intentionally flooded his cell and used his commissary box to bang on the glass window in his cell door, according to a prison incident report. Weisback ordered Akubu to stop numerous times, then pepper-sprayed the prisoner when he failed to obey.

While two other officers cuffed Akubu and took him from his cell for medical treatment, the report says, Akubu spat in Weisback's face. Weisback then "had a mental break and in defense pushed Inmate Akubu's face and put him in a headlock and struck him multiple times with a closed fist,"the incident report says.

In a statement, Giorla said the two escorting officers - identified in the incident report as Tracy Grant-Pratt and Tyree Holmes-Irvin - also were found to have violated policies for removing Akubu without authorization and for excessive force. Their disciplinary action is also awaiting a disposition from Giorla's office, according to his statement.

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