NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Four Rikers Island correction officers were indicted on Monday for failing to help an 18-year-old inmate who had attempted suicide in a holding cell at the beleaguered jail system in 2019.
Officers Kenneth Hood, Mark Wilson, Daniel Fullerton and Captain Terry Henry were arraigned and charged with first and second-degree reckless endangerment and official misconduct, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber announced.
All four officers pleaded not guilty, WABC-7 reports.
Nicholas Feliciano was inside Intake Pen 11 in the George R. Vierno Center on Nov. 27, 2019, when he tied two sweatshirts to the ceiling of the holding cell and wrapped them around his neck, according to an investigation by the DOC and the DA's Public Integrity Bureau.
Feliciano stood on the privacy partition, crouched down, then stepped off the partition, causing the sweatshirts to constrict his neck. His body shook and twisted for nearly two minutes until he went still.
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According to the investigation, over the course of seven minutes and 51 seconds, DOC staff and other personnel can be seen on surveillance video walking past Feliciano and taking no action to cut him down or render aid.
Hood, Wilson, and Fullerton were on post in the Intake, and their supervisor at the time was Captain Henry. Henry, Fullerton, and another correction officer ultimately attempted to cut Feliciano down, and the victim fell to the ground, limping. They began CPR and called for medical assistance.
Feliciano suffered severe brain damage and is currently at a rehab facility at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.
Two of the officers were suspended and two others have already resigned, the DOC told WABC-7.
"The defendants ignored their duty as Correction Officers to maintain custody, care and control of the person incarcerated, by allegedly waiting nearly eight minutes until they rendered assistance to the inmate whom they saw hanging," Clark said in a statement. "The young man is now living with extensive brain damage."
The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association called out the charges on Monday as "being driven more by politics than by facts."
"The U.S. Attorney's Office previously conducted a thorough investigation of this same case and decided not to pursue any criminal charges," said COBA President Benny Boscio in a statement.
"The Bronx DA's Office, however, is searching for scapegoats," he added. "If they had any interest in justice, then why haven’t they prosecuted the nearly 800 inmates who've committed vicious crimes in jail, including the slashing and stabbing of inmates and officers. These inmate cases have been pending since 2015, with nothing being done to hold them accountable. They should be arrested and brought to justice at once — with the same enthusiasm that the DA apparently has in going after officers."
Eleven detainees have died in DOC custody so far this year — with the latest on July 15, just days after the 10th death.
If you are in a crisis or have a family member or friend who needs help, you are not alone. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741.
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