Two corrections officers and a captain were inactive for at least 10 minutes when a mentally ill man slashed his throat with a razor blade at the Rikers Island prison complex last week, with guards watching The man was bleeding, according to 5 people with knowledge. Of the problem.
The man, Michael Nieves, 40, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he has been brain dead and has been on life support since Friday, according to an official. The official said he was withdrawn from life support on Tuesday and was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m. KST. The two corrections officers and the captain have been suspended pending the outcome of the department’s investigation.
The people said the episode was captured on video and it showed Mr Nieves bleeding on the floor of his cell, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
“The health and safety of those in our custody is paramount and an immediate review of this incident requires that we take immediate action and suspend three uniformed officers. relevant,” Louis A. Molina, commissioner of the New York City Department of Corrections, said in a statement Tuesday night. “We are conducting a full investigation into this and will continue to work tirelessly to bring safety to our city’s prisons.”
Rikers Island Crisis
Amid the pandemic and staffing emergency, New York City’s main prison complex has been caught up in a continuing crisis.
The death toll at the prison complex has continued to rise even as the city has implemented a series of reforms in an effort to stave off the threat of a federal court takeover. The judge overseeing the reforms has scheduled a status meeting in November, at which she will assess the city’s progress.
But signs of violence and dysfunction persist. The stabs and slashes remained at a high level. Overdose has skyrocketed behind bars, causing the deaths of at least five people this year. A large number of officers have yet to show up or are not available to work.
Unlike most deaths this year, Mr. Nieves’ serious injuries were not due to insufficient staffing. Mr. Nieves, who has been described by officials as having a serious mental illness, was most recently hosted in the Clinical Effectiveness Accelerator Program, also known as PACE units – Rikers Island’s most staffed intensive care psychiatric wards.
Fifty-three percent of the people on Rikers Island have mental health diagnosis, of which 17% of people, like Mr. Nieves, are severely mentally ill. The officers assigned to these units are specially trained to recognize the signs of distress in mentally ill detainees.
Mr. Nieves has been in custody since April 2019 on charges of theft, arson and other charges for an incident in Upper Manhattan, records show. Since his arrest, Nieves has twice been found ineligible for trial and sent to a state psychiatric facility, once for seven months and then again, according to prosecutors. this year from March to June, according to prosecutors.
Judge Laura A. Ward of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan ordered another examination to determine if Mr. Nieves was fit to stand trial. Court records show he will return to court on September 6.
Mr. Nieves had obvious suicidal tendencies. In his 2019 lawsuit, he said doctors discovered he had bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and accused law enforcement of false imprisonment and medical professionals. misdiagnosis. He spent 12 days at Bellevue Hospital in February 2019 following a suicide attempt in which he set himself on fire in the bathroom of an office building.
On August 25 while in prison, Mr. Nieves checked a razor, the two said, and when taking him back to his cell, officers neither checked him nor checked to make sure. said the razor was returned.
At 11:30 a.m., Nieves used a razor across his neck, causing a 6-inch laceration, according to four people with knowledge and a prison record.
The two officers and their captain watched for at least 10 minutes as Mr. Nieves bled. Paramedics arrived and Mr Nieves was taken to the hospital. The next day, officials said, he was declared brain dead.
William K. Rashbaum contribution report.
