A New York City man who was released from Rikers Island in the city’s attempt to protect detainees from contracting the coronavirus was allegedly robbed at gunpoint just hours after walking out of jail.
Corrections officers released 56 inmates from the jail Friday to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. One former prisoner was jumped by two unidentified males at gunpoint just hours after his release, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
The unnamed man, 36, was walking around Greenwich Village around 2 a.m. when he was allegedly robbed of his cellphone and wallet by two men wearing face masks and hoodies. The two suspects have not been arrested.
Four corrections officers and one inmate have already tested positive at the jail, and the chief medical officer offered a warning last week that the number will likely increase.
Ross MacDonald, the chief medical officer for Correctional Health Services, said last week, “A storm is coming, and I know what I’ll be doing when it claims my first patient. What will you be doing? What will you have done? We have told you who is at risk. Please let as many out as you possibly can.
“To be clear, the public servants who care for those in your jails have been planning for this storm for weeks and months. We will muster every tool of public health, science, and medicine to try to keep our patients safe. We will apply every novel treatment and scarce test,” the doctor said.
New York City officials reported 8,115 cases of the coronavirus as of Saturday, bringing with it a total death toll of 60.
“We are literally scouring the globe looking for medical supplies,” Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press conference Saturday.
He added, “We are now working with hospitals to reconfigure space to get more beds and find more staff to manage the beds.”
