Rockland Corrections Officials React To Violent Felon's New Sentences

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Corrections officers and the head of the department that runs the Rockland County Jail praised the consecutive prison sentences imposed last week on a Spring Valley man for attacks on and threats against officers.

Darius Williams, 35, was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for repeated assaults on Rockland County Correction Officers in 2023, while he was incarcerated in the Rockland County Correctional Facility, to be served after the 7-year sentence he is currently serving for an unprovoked assault on a stranger in 2022 on a street in the village of Haverstraw.

Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco III said the sentences imposed by Rockland County Court Judge Kevin Russo send a strong message that violence against correction officers will not be tolerated.

The two consecutive 7-year terms in state prison for two separate felony assaults on corrections officers were imposed Wednesday after a two-day non-jury trial in Rockland County Criminal Court which took place in December, Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II said Friday.

The incidents which were the subject of the latest trial stemmed from criminal conduct committed by Williams while confined in the Rockland County Jail last year.

"Corrections officers work under difficult and often dangerous conditions while providing for the care, custody and control of individuals remanded to the custody of the Sheriff," Falco said.

On Jan. 11, 2023, Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections officers conducted a search of Williams' cell. A white shank with a metal tip was discovered in his jail-issued jacket. The item is considered contraband within a correctional facility.

On Feb. 15, 2023, a Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections officer was assigned to escort Williams to his cell. The Sheriff’s Corrections officer removed Williams' handcuffs and told him to put his hands on the wall. Immediately afterward, Williams ran towards the corrections officer and punched him in the face. There was a struggle, during which a Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections Sergeant was injured. He was treated for his injury at a local hospital and remained out of work for several months.

Two days later, Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections officers responded to Williams’ cell to fix his broken cell door. Immediately after corrections officers were able to get the door open, Williams punched one in the face and lunged at the other. There was a struggle during which a Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections Sergeant was injured, treated at a local hospital, and remained out of work for several months.

On July 31, Williams was changing into civilian clothes for a court appearance when a Rockland County Sheriff’s Corrections officer observed an object bulging from one of his socks. A search uncovered a screw wrapped in a ripped shirt and toilet paper. The item is considered a weapon and prison contraband within a correctional facility.

The president of the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association of Rockland County said "It is comforting to know that the District Attorney's Office and the courts have our back when we have to deal with violent incarcerated individuals like Darius Williams."

"The work done by the membership of COBARC is thankless and very often goes unnoticed. The job can be extremely dangerous as we deal with the most violent members of society day in and day out, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year," Martin Fogarty said.

Fogarty and Falco thanked Judge Russo, the Correctional Department staff and detectives from the Police Division who investigated these cases, and the assistant district attorneys who handled the prosecution.

SEE:

• Rockland Man Convicted Over Unprovoked Box-Cutter Attack
• More Prison Time For Rockland Felon Who Attacked Corrections Officers