Rikers Officer Suspended After Detainee's Death
A Rikers Island correction officer was suspended for failing to provide lifesaving aid to a detainee who had a seizure in a jail cell and died last month.
The detainee, 43-year-old Carlos Cruz, was scheduled to move to an upstate prison the next day, according to city records and officials.
Cruz was part of a backlog of jail detainees across New York awaiting transfer to state prisons after a weekslong unsanctioned strike by state correction officers earlier this year.
The officer failed to provide lifesaving aid to the 43-year-old man as he had a seizure in a cell, according to an official report.
The officer’s suspension and the timing of Cruz’s prison move emerged in a preliminary death report by the city Board of Correction.
Author's summary: Rikers officer suspended for not helping detainee.