Rikers Island inmate swipes officer's uniform from gym to pose as guard — and nearly escapes

Jan 24, 2024

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A Rikers Island inmate swiped an officer’s uniform from a jailhouse gym and disguised himself as a guard to escape Thursday — but got nabbed walking out the door, say officials and law enforcement sources.

The jailbird, Bokeem Jones, 28, attempted to stroll out of the 400-capacity Otis Bantum Correctional Center while dressed in the Department of Corrections uniform around 10:25 p.m., the DOC and sources said.

Jones, who’d been locked up on Brooklyn assault charges, knocked on a locked door, was let out and began casually walking down a corridor when eagle-eyed staffers finally recognized him and ordered him to stop, according to a DOC report and sources.

The suspect instead struck a “fighting stance” and bolted away from officers, prompting guards to “deploy a chemical agent” — possibly pepper spray — and restrain him, the report and sources said.

Three Department of Corrections staffers were injured during the scuffle, which was captured on camera.

It wasn’t immediately clear how Jones got access to the gym to get the uniform.

“Last night at approximately 10:30 p.m., a person in custody tried to escape from the Otis Bantum Correctional Center by disguising himself in a DOC uniform and attempting to leave a secure area,” a DOC rep said in a statement. “Officers identified the detainee in a hallway and quickly took him into custody. The incident is under investigation.”

In September, a 48-year-old inmate escaped from a Rikers jail barge and jumped into the East River before he was pulled out in an unresponsive state.

Earlier this month, federal authorities sounded the alarm about a “disturbing level of regression” at the lockup, citing a high number of in-custody deaths.