Ulster County Inmate Threatened To Stab Correction Officer: Sheriff

KINGSTON, NY — An inmate in the Ulster County Jail was accused of having a makeshift weapon in his cell.

The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office said, around 10 a.m. May 30, a 19-year-old Esopus resident, who is currently incarcerated in the Ulster County Jail, harassed a correction officer by threatening to stab the officer.

The inmate threatened to use a weapon commonly referred to as a “shank.”

Officials said that led to the search of the inmate’s living quarters where correction officers recovered a makeshift weapon found under his mattress.

An investigation found the 19-year-old made the weapon out of a piece of broken plastic and sharpened it. A short time later on the same day, around 11:40 a.m., the inmate took a cup filled with urine and threw it at correction officers, the sheriff’s office said.

The inmate was charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband and aggravated harassment of an employee by an inmate, felonies. He was also charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor.

The sheriff’s office said previously that the 19-year-old was arrested April 4 after he was accused of stabbing another inmate in the neck with a pen that he made into a weapon. He was charged with first-degree attempted assault, second-degree assault and promoting prison contraband, all felonies.

The inmate remains incarcerated in the Ulster County Jail on unrelated charges and will be arraigned on the new charges in the City of Kingston Court on a future date.