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Middle Village officer smuggled knives into Rikers Island: investigators

An aerial photo of Rikers Island
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

A corrections officer from Middle Village wound up in a jail cell of his own this week after fellow guards found him in possession of knives while walking into work, according to prosecutors.

Angelo Martinez, 51, failed to pass through the security screening area at the Anna M. Kross Center (AMKC) on Rikers Island at 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. Guards reportedly found a folding knife with a four-inch blade in his duffel bag.

When the officers alerted their supervisors, prosecutors noted, Martinez allegedly removed a second knife from the bag, then concealed it in his hand. Nearby security cameras taped footage of the removal.

The officers later recovered the second knife from Martinez, then found a third one during a search of his locker.

While corrections officers can store firearms in lock boxes before entering the jail facilities, Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Mark Peters noted, Corrections Department (DOC) policy prohibits the storage of knives in employee lockers and jail facilities.

Martinez, who has been with the Corrections Department since August 2007, was charged in Bronx Criminal Court with promoting prison contraband. The Corrections Department subsequently suspended him without pay pending the outcome of his case.

“This defendant placed his fellow correction officers at risk by trying to conceal and bring in knives to AMKC,” Peters said. “That we were able to quickly find and confiscate these dangerous items is a testament to DOC’s adoption of DOI’s recommendation for better staff screening at jail entrances.”