Four Rikers Island staffers, including an assistant deputy warden, have been suspended for the accidental release of an inmate facing a murder charge, sources tell the Daily News.
Department of Correction brass imposed the discipline as a fugitive task force continued hunting for Christopher Buggs, who is considered armed and dangerous.
Buggs, 26, was released early Tuesday due to a clerical error that listed him as receiving "time served" on a still-pending charge of second-degree murder for a 2018 shooting at a Brooklyn deli.
The suspension of Assistant Deputy Warden Kevin Roulston, the tour commander in charge of operations at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center the night of the stunning screwup, was confirmed by Joe Russo, the president of the union representing assistant deputy and deputy wardens.
© Provided by New York Daily NewsChristopher Buggs
Christopher Buggs
Two correction officers and a captain were also suspended, a source said.
Russo previously blamed court staff for a clerical error that resulted in a separate misdemeanor contempt charge against the suspect getting confused with his murder case.
Buggs served 30 days on the contempt charge after twice telling a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge on his murder case to "Suck my d---." The outburst came when the judge declined to allow him out on bail on the murder charge.
Once the 30-day sentence was up, jail staff apparently misread his records and sprung Buggs from Rikers Island, where he was supposed to be held without bail until the murder trial begins.