Rikers Guard's Body Cam Captures Him Planting Shiv: DA

NEW YORK CITY — A Rikers Island jail guard got caught by his own body camera planting a shiv in a bid to justify his use of force against an inmate, prosecutors said.

Dionisio Rosario, 33, was indicted Friday on a slew of charges, from evidence tampering to misconduct, authorities said.

The accusations arose in large part because Rosario unwittingly activated his body camera while placing a makeshift blade in an inmate's cell, officials said.

"There have been too many brutal slashings of inmates and staff inside Rikers Island, and for a Correction Officer to allegedly plant a 4-inch, pointed shard of plexiglass in an inmate's cell and then pretend he found it is unconscionable and absurd," said Darcel Clark, district attorney for The Bronx, in a statement.

The charges stemmed from an April 3 incident in which Rosario used force against an inmate, prosecutors said.

Video footage, including from Rosario's own body camera, showed Rosario holding a sharpened object in his hand and put in the inmate's cell underneath a piece of paper by a sink, authorities said.

Rosario then searched the cell and acted as if he discovered the shiv that he had planted, officials said. He also contended it was in the inmate's hand, among other false information he filed in Department of Correction reports, authorities said.

Rosario is scheduled to return to court Dec. 19.