15 inmates charged in brutal beatdown of Rikers guard

Prosecutors are charging 15 inmates with the brutal, Thanksgiving Day beating of a Rikers jail guard, officials announced today.

Bloods gang member Jason Reid, who was caught on video savaging Capt. Awais Ghauri on Nov. 23, instructed 14 other inmates 90 minutes before to aid the attack, investigators revealed.

Ghauri, who suffered several cuts and bruises, is still recovering.

Reid plotted and executed the strike as retaliation, because Ghauri pepper-sprayed an inmate on Nov. 2 despite Reid’s threats to “cut” him if he did so.

“These inmates are sorely mistaken if they think they can mete out punishment to correction staff who are doing their jobs. If you play any role in making Rikers Island unsafe, we will arrest you, prosecute you and urge consecutive sentences if you’re convicted,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said at a press conference announcing the charges.

Seven were arraigned and remanded on Tuesday, and the remaining eight are being arraigned Thursday.

Reid, who was charged Tuesday, had a dire warning for guards who came to court in support of Ghauri.

“This is just starting,” he hissed at them, according to prosecutors.

Reid — who is being held at Rikers’ Otis Bantum Correctional Center while the city adjudicates nearly 40 charges against him from three separate arrests — summoned 14 other inmates to a housing area north of OBCC at 10:45 a.m. on Nov. 23, prosecutors say.

Then, at 12:15 p.m., Reid pounced on Ghauri as the guard patrolled an inmate common area, pummeling the guard repeatedly. Maurice Hennegan and Lyemel Summerville allegedly joined the melee.

Two other guards can be seen fleeing from the scuffle, according to surveillance footage.

Prosecutors say a total 14 inmates also worked in concert to steal pepper spray from one of the guards and then blocked the officers from running back to aid Ghauri.

Officials are still investigating whether the guards who turned tail colluded with the inmates, according to officials.

The 15 are charged with robbery, assault and contraband possession — the top charge of first-degree robbery carries a maximum 15-year sentence, prosecutors said.

A 16th defendant, who was in his cell at the time of the attack, 22-year-old Christian Martinez, is accused of helping dispose of the stolen pepper spray canister.

The accused return to court March 14, 2018.