Mayor Bloomberg is launching an investigation into what he called the “ill-advised and outrageous” prison-guard slowdown that kept hundreds of Rikers Island inmates from reaching their court dates — after The Post reported the job action was a union ploy to block a specific prisoner from testifying against two guards who allegedly beat him.
“The union acted without regard for any penalties that may be imposed against its members, and I’ve asked Labor Commissioner Jim Hanley to work with Department of Correction Commissioner [Dora] Schriro to look into the circumstances,” the mayor said Thursday at a City Hall press conference.
“I can promise you we will pursue appropriate disciplinary action against any DOC employee who carried this out.”
The slowdown of prisoner transport buses was initially described as a protest against the prosecution of guards Kevin Gilkes and Louis Pinto in The Bronx for allegedly assaulting inmate Dapree Peterson, but a well-placed source told The Post that the union action was actually a plot to keep Peterson, 21, from taking the stand.
“He was supposed to testify Monday; they didn’t want him to testify,” a source told The Post Wednesday.
“I have asked our corporation counsel, Michael Cardozo, to process a complaint based on this action and to seek a permanent injunction against this kind of stuff,” Bloomberg said, adding that such an injunction would hold union leadership responsible for their “ill-advised and outrageous legal actions.”
A Correction Officers Benevolent Association spokesman did not return calls for comment.
The slowdown began Monday when no prisoners made it to courtrooms around the city. It had petered out by Wednesday.
Gilkes, 48, is charged with beating Peterson and filing false paperwork afterward, while Pinto, 30, was hit with a charge of falsifying business records after allegedly standing by during the beating.
The guards’ Bronx trial was adjourned until Dec. 5.
Peterson appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday on charges he allegedly robbed and slashed a subway rider.
Judge Bonnie Wittner set his trial date for January.
Peterson’s family declined to comment.