An incarcerated man from New York City is accused of sneaking a gun onto a prison transport van and shooting another inmate in the leg.
The major security breach happened while five prisoners were being transported to the Westchester County jail, according to the Mount Vernon Police Department, which is now scrambling to answer questions and change procedures.
Officers failed to find gun when searching suspect
According to police, officers arrested 32-year-old Louis Soto, of the Bronx, on Wednesday for forcible touching.
The next day, as two officers were driving Soto and four other handcuffed prisoners to the county jail, the officers reported hearing a gunshot in the back of the van and a prisoner stating he had been shot.
“This is a very serious incident. We take this very seriously,” Acting Commissioner and Chief of Mount Vernon Police Marcel Olifiers said at a news conference Friday.
A source said Soto had hidden a .22 caliber handgun on his body and that officers who searched him failed to find it.
“The department is conducting a full review of the circumstances surrounding this event, including relevant policies, procedures and training,” Olifiers said. “Preliminarily, findings indicated that the firearm should have been detected prior to the transport.”
Retired NYPD Det. Phil Grimaldi, who hosts the “Police off the Cuff” podcast, said that’s an understatement.
“Extremely dangerous,” Grimaldi said. “It causes the public to lose trust in police officers when something like this happens. An officer is at risk, other officers, the prisoners and the public in general.”
The police department said all protocols for prisoner intake and transport are now under review.
Police reduced strip searches in settlement with Biden administration
The injured prisoner was being treated at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx with non-life-threatening injuries, Olifiers said.
“Frightening, inexcusable … many lives are at stake. Again, Mount Vernon Police Department has failed,” Jesse Van Lew, a community activist and founder of Save Mount Vernon, said.
Two years ago, the department moved to reduce strip searches as part of a civil rights settlement with the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden.
But police say current search policies should have detected the firearm.
“Starting immediately, the use of the department’s magnetometer handheld wand is now mandatory for all new prisoner processings,” Olifiers said.
The two officers involved in the prison transport were assigned to desk duty pending the department’s investigation, the chief said.
The District Attorney’s Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Bureau is leading the investigation.