Former NYC Correction Officer Faces Life in Prison For Death of Inmate: U.S. Attorney

A former New York City correction officer at Rikers Island was convicted on Thursday in connection to the death of a pre-trial detainee back in 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Brian Coll, of Smithtown, was charged with the death of Ronald Spear, who was incarcerated on Rikers Island at the North Infirmary Command which houses detainees who have serious or chronic medical needs, by repeatedly kicking him in the head while he was restrained, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Coll was arrested on a complaint on June 10, 2015, and has been in federal custody since that time. He was convicted after a 10-day trial before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska.

Coll convicted of death resulting from deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, filing false forms and conspiracy to file false forms.

The top charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or death. Coll is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Preska on April 24, 2017.

In Dec. 2012, Spear left the housing area in the infirmary unit to see the on-duty doctor but was stopped by Coll, who said that the doctor was not available to see him.

In an altercation that ensued, Coll punched Spear several times in the face and stomach, and Spear was then restrained by two other correction officers, Anthony Torres, 50, of New Rochelle and Byron Taylor, 32 of Brentwood.

While Spear was lying on the ground and was still restrained, Coll repeatedly kicked Spear in the head, even after Torres attempted to shield the inmate’s head with his hand and shouted to Coll to stop.

After he stopped kicking, Coll lifted Spear’s head up, told him to remember who had done this to him, and then dropped Spear’s head to the ground.

Spear’s autopsy revealed that he had at least three recent contusions on his skull, and that he had suffered a “brain bleed” caused by blunt force trauma to the head, consistent with Spear being kicked in the head while he was lying prone on the ground. Spear suffered a cardiac arrhythmia as a result of the head trauma. The jury found that the assault by Coll was the cause of Spear’s death.

After Spear’s death, Coll, Taylor, Torres and others, covered up the cause of Spear’s death by falsely claiming that Spear had attacked Coll with a cane.

The three filed false use of force reports with the Department of Correction and lied repeatedly to Department of Correction supervisors, investigators, and to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office after being advised by a Rikers captain to be consistent in the use of force reports the officers were required to submit following Spear’s death.

The captain also advised a correction officer to take a cane from a supply area and to pass it off to investigators as the cane used in the incident.

“Today, a unanimous jury in Manhattan federal court affirmed that the protections of the U.S. Constitution extend into the walls of our prisons, including Rikers Island," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. "For his brutal and heartless beating of 52-year-old Ronald Spear, a sickly Rikers inmate, and his lies to cover it up, Brian Coll now stands convicted of serious federal crimes."