3 inmates to face charges after attack on correction officers

One correction officer was stabbed a dozen times by a 6-inch piece of metal sharpened to a point with a cloth wrapped handle affixed, according to court documents.

Three inmates accused of assaulting multiple correction officers at Massachusetts’s only maximum-security prison are now facing charges, the state Department of Correction announced.

The three men, who are incarcerated at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, were charged last Friday. Five correction officers were hospitalized after the incident on Wednesday, Sept. 18, a spokesperson for the department said.

Jose Crespo, 39, Heriberto Rivera-Negron, 36, and Jeffrey Tapia, 30, are each charged with mayhem, armed assault to murder, and assault to murder. Each man will appear in court later in October.

“Attacks against our officers will not be tolerated and the serious charges filed against the three individuals demonstrates that the Massachusetts Department of Correction will take action,” the DOC’s Interim Commissioner Shawn Jenkins said in a statement. “This type of violence is unacceptable and now those involved will be held accountable in the court of law.”

Court docs: One officer stabbed a dozen times

Around 6:20 p.m. on Sept. 18, the DOC said, two officers were stabbed multiple times by men incarcerated at SBCC, and three other officers were injured when responding to the incident.

Crespo allegedly stabbed the first officer with a “6-inch piece of metal sharpened to a point with a cloth wrapped handle affixed,” according to court filings. He punched the officer multiple times before stabbing him in the back multiple times while Tapia held the officer down, the criminal complaint filed in Clinton District Court said.

The struggle continued while two other officers responded, who disarmed and restrained Crespo. The complaint said Rivera-Negron then ran toward the assault and allegedly punched the first officer repeatedly.

The first officer, who spent multiple days in the hospital in serious condition, had seven deep puncture wounds in his back, two punctures to his neck, three to his shoulders, and a laceration on his jaw, the complaint said. The other officers had minor injuries.

Correction officer union’s reaction

The incident was initially shared by the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union on Facebook, which claimed it’s been four years since the department had “authorized the use of tactical units and done a thorough institution wide search.”

“ENOUGH!” the union wrote at the time. “How much more do our members have to endure before you decide to keep them safe? The inmates are literally running the asylum. Do your jobs.”

In a statement, leadership said they were “stunned, appalled and angry at the level of brutality” in a video they shared of the assault. The court documents state the incident was caught on surveillance video in its entirety.

Last month, the union told the Boston Herald that dozens of “homemade sharpened weapons” were found inside Souza-Baranowski. After the assaults on Sept. 18, union leadership said they have been “warning the DOC of something like this.”

Last week, the MCOFU said DOC wasn’t doing enough to keep officers safe. They claimed a search of SBCC was started but wasn’t completed before another officer was assaulted on Thursday.

DOC did not reply to a request for comment about those claims Sunday evening.

After the charges against the inmates were announced, the union said they are “grateful” the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office.

“We demand the DOC take action to make the prisons more secure by clearing out the deadly weapons and drugs that are too prevalent in our system,” MCOFU’s statement said. “Our focus remains on the safety of everyone in the prison system, to include our brothers and sisters of MCOFU.”