Jason Van Dyke moved to prison in New York

Leah Hope Image
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Jason Van Dyke moved to New York prison
Jason Van Dyke has been moved to a federal prison outside New York City.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke has been moved to a federal prison in New York.

A spokesperson for his legal team confirmed Van Dyke is now housed at a federal prison in Otisville, about 75 miles northwest of New York City.

Van Dyke was attacked in a Connecticut prison in February. He sustained injuries to his head and face -- which the Federal Bureau of Prisons characterized as "minor" -- and was placed in lockdown 23 hours a day, his attorneys said. He was not allowed to have any visitors nor write emails or make phone calls in that isolated area of the prison.

Van Dyke's family said after the February attack they are all petrified and fear for his life. His wife said the 40-year-old former officer just wants to serve his sentence and does not want any trouble.

Van Dyke was sentenced in January to nearly seven years in prison after being convicted in connection with the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald. He was being held at the Rock Island County Jail in the northwestern part of the state, but according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons he was recently moved to a low security correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, where the assault took place.

There is no word on why Van Dyke has been moved from Connecticut to the prison in Otisville.