Five members of the Mount Vernon Police Department (MVPD), Sergeant Joseph Diaz, Police Officer Cody Housen, Police Officer Christian Pacheco, Police Officer Sonjea Collins, Police Officer Omar Bryce, have been suspended on Thursday, October 23rd, in connection with a shooting that took place the week before inside a prison van. The department said a sergeant and four officers have been suspended without pay for 30 days.
32-year-old Louis Soto, of the Bronx, was arrested on Wednesday, October 15th, for forcible touching. Soto is accused of sneaking a loaded .22-caliber Rohm-RGT revolver 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 after officers failed to find a gun when searching the suspect.
Two MVPD officers, Officers Omar Bryce and Sonjea Collins. They were transporting five prisoners to the Norwood E. Jackson Correctional Center in Valhalla when they heard a gunshot from the back of the van and a prisoner saying he had been shot.
The officers drove back to police headquarters, and department personnel removed the prisoners from the van, police said. One prisoner had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his lower leg and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
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.
MVPD says it modified its search policy after a scathing report last year by the Justice Department, which concluded officers conducted an excessive number of strip searches.
Police say magnatomitors will now be used to screen prisoners.
Community activists say the shooting is the result of a deeper problem within the department.
“So many good officers, experienced officers have left this department for better pay or retired, you have rookies training rookies right now in the city. For them to say that the DOJ excuse, the strip searching, we’re not buying that,” Jesse Van with Save Mount Vernon shared with Black Westchester.
The department is reviewing all circumstances surrounding the incident. Based on our established training, policies, and procedures, early findings indicate that the firearm should have been detected during arrest or intake. While a 2022 policy update limited the broad use of strip searches, a properly conducted frisk or authorized strip search should have revealed the weapon.
Failure to do so has resulted in disciplinary action by the Mount Vernon Police Department. In consultation with legal counsel, five department members directly involved in Soto’s arrest or processing have been suspended without pay for 30 days pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation.
These suspensions are not final determinations of disciplinary outcomes. The internal investigation remains active, and additional findings or disciplinary actions may be forthcoming as the review continues.
