NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Rikers Island detainee died Tuesday after he tried to escape by jumping from the Bronx's Vernon C. Bain Center and into the East River -- the 15th person to die in DOC custody.
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Gregory Acevedo, 48, mounted the rooftop recreation yard's fence and plunged into the water around 11:44 a.m. in an attempted escape from the jail barge docked near Halleck Street in Hunts Point.
"The individual was apprehended and taken to a local hospital for any injuries they sustained during this attempted escape," a department spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Sources told the Daily News Wednesday that when Acevedo was pulled from the water and taken to a pier at Rikers following his almost 50-foot jump, he was unconscious and in cardiac arrest.
"He was gone when he hit the water," a department source told the outlet.
The DOC confirmed that Acevedo was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital around 10:59 p.m. Tuesday. The city medical examiner's office will investigate his cause of death.
Warren Silverman, Acevedo's lawyer, told the outlet Tuesday that he had not seen his client since June 6, but added that nothing "would suggest he would do something like this" and called it a "massive failure" for DOC staff.
The Daily News reported that the 48-year-old was convicted in 1995 of attempted murder, robbery, assault and escape in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was paroled in 2016, records show.
Acevedo entered DOC custody on Feb. 27 on a first-degree robbery charge, the department said Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint reviewed by the outlet, he broke into a van in Ozone Park and stole a box of tools.
The owners of the van allegedly witnessed him and Acevedo attack them with two screwdrivers, resulting in puncture wounds, scrapes and bruises, prosecutors allege.
"It's not an extraordinary crime, but because of his prior record, it's quite serious," Silverman said Tuesday. "I made efforts to have his bail conditions changed but he's remained remanded."
DOC Commissioner Louis A. Molina called Acevedo's death "an immense loss" and said that the department is conducting "a preliminary investigation" of the incident.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones at this difficult time," he added.
His death came six days after a detainee died by suicide in a bathroom for Correction Department staff. Sixteen detainees died in DOC custody last year.
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