Two correction officers at Rikers Island are now facing criminal charges after Bronx prosecutors say they blasted detained men with pepper spray without cause and then tried to paper over what happened. Their own jailhouse surveillance system, prosecutors argue, tells a very different story from the one the officers filed in official reports.
The officers, 32-year-old Adrian Houlder and 33-year-old Tarik Hawkins, were indicted Wednesday and pleaded not guilty in Bronx court. Both were released without bail.
According to Gothamist, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark alleges the officers used pepper spray "in violation of department guidelines" and then submitted paperwork "inconsistent with the facts." The indictment ties them to three incidents that allegedly occurred between June 15 and Oct. 21, 2024, at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island. Houlder and Hawkins were arraigned on charges that include falsifying business records and official misconduct and are scheduled to return to Bronx court on July 1.
Where It Happened
The incidents are all alleged to have taken place inside the Otis Bantum Correctional Center (OBCC), a men’s facility on Rikers Island. The New York City Department of Correction lists OBCC as one of several housing facilities on the island. The jail, like much of Rikers, has landed in the crosshairs of oversight agencies and prosecutors in recent years, as scrutiny over conditions and use of force has intensified.
Video Contradicts Officers' Reports
Prosecutors say the story the officers told on paper does not match what the cameras recorded. The officers reportedly claimed a detained person tried to headbutt them before they used pepper spray, but a review of surveillance footage allegedly showed otherwise.
In a statement quoted by Gothamist, Department of Investigation Commissioner Nadia Shihata said, "These correction officers betrayed their positions of trust." The Bronx DA’s Public Integrity Bureau handled the case in partnership with DOI, according to prosecutors.
Legal Implications
Both falsifying business records and official misconduct are crimes under New York law, and public servants convicted of them can face prosecution and discipline on the job. Legal references explain that falsifying business records can be treated as a felony when it is carried out to hide another crime, and that official misconduct hinges on proving a public servant knowingly broke the law to secure a benefit or to deprive someone else. Courts have repeatedly parsed those elements in prior cases, as outlined in materials from New York Lawyers and in rulings compiled on FindLaw.
How This Fits Into a Pattern
The new indictment lands in the middle of an already heated debate over what really happens behind the walls at Rikers. Recent reports and public hearings have described a culture of violence, cover-ups and opaque internal investigations at the jail complex.
A January report assembled by the office of State Sen. Julia Salazar gathered testimony about ongoing abuse and called for reforms, and prosecutors have previously brought cases against Rikers staff accused of falsifying paperwork, as local coverage has noted. Taken together, those accounts help explain why every new criminal case involving jail staff is being watched so closely while the city inches toward shutting down the island’s jails.
What to Watch
Houlder and Hawkins are set to return to Bronx court on July 1. The pretrial phase could surface more of the surveillance footage that prosecutors say undercuts the officers’ written reports, and it may also clarify whether the Department of Correction will pursue internal discipline alongside the criminal case.
For families of people in custody, jail reform advocates and lawmakers tracking the long, messy process of closing Rikers, the case has become a test of whether outside prosecutors and investigators are willing and able to hold line staff accountable when official narratives do not match what the cameras show.
