"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 night before the man was scheduled to move to an upstate prison, according to city records and officials. Carlos Cruz, 43, was part of a backlog of jail detainees across New York awaiting transfer to state prisons in the wake of a weekslong unsanctioned strike by state correction officers earlier this year."
"The officer's suspension and the timing of Cruz's prison move emerged in a preliminary death report by the city Board of Correction, which Gothamist obtained through a public records request. Those details were confirmed by state and city correction officials. City officials said they're still investigating Cruz's Sept. 3 death, but noted the officer - who is not named in the report - was suspended for 30 days in connection with the death."
A Rikers Island correction officer was suspended for failing to provide lifesaving aid after detainee Carlos Cruz, 43, seized and died the night before a scheduled transfer to an upstate prison. Cruz was part of a backlog of detainees awaiting transfer following a weekslong unsanctioned strike by state correction officers. A preliminary Board of Correction report states the officer shouted Cruz's name but did not perform CPR or chest compressions. Medical staff administered CPR, Narcan, and epinephrine but could not revive Cruz, who was pronounced dead less than two hours later. The officer received a 30-day suspension. Cruz was the 12th person in 2025 to die at or shortly after release from Rikers, which faces oversight and potential federal intervention amid reports of abuse, violence, drug use, and sexual misconduct; detainee deaths this year have more than doubled compared with last year.
Read at Gothamist
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