A New York City correction officer was arrested on Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and charged with violating the civil rights of a mentally ill inmate who died after begging for medical help from his cell for hours.
The officer, Terrence Pendergrass, was supervising the Rikers Island unit where the prisoner was being held and, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday, Mr. Pendergrass ignored subordinates who warned that the prisoner, Jason Echevarria, was in distress and needed aid. Mr. Echevarria, who was 25, was found dead hours later.
The charge in the August 2012 death comes as the city faces mounting scrutiny over conditions on Rikers Island and in particular the treatment of mentally ill inmates, whose numbers have surged in recent years. Mayor Bill de Blasio, in naming his correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, said this month that the department had “sadly lagged behind other corrections systems.” He has vowed reforms.
Last week, news reports detailed the recent death of a mentally ill inmate who was left unattended for hours in an overheated cell on Rikers, where he was being held on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Advocates for the mentally ill say that the deaths are emblematic of the neglect and indifference that are common at Rikers, the vast city jail complex in the East River, where violent encounters between inmates and guards have been on the rise in recent years.
The Bronx district attorney’s office periodically brings charges against Rikers guards for excessive force, but the complaint filed on Monday by the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York represents the first time in at least a decade that the office has brought a civil rights prosecution in connection with Rikers.
Charged with one count of deprivation of rights under the color of law, Mr. Pendergrass appeared in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Monday afternoon and was released on $250,000 bond. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The criminal complaint filed by prosecutors paints a picture of stark official indifference, alleged to have been directed by Mr. Pendergrass, 49, who was a captain at the time but was demoted back to officer after the episode.
On Aug. 18, 2012, Mr. Echevarria swallowed a toxic packet of powdered detergent, known at Rikers as a soap ball, that had been given to inmates to clean out their cells after a leak of raw sewage from the toilets. After ingesting the soap ball, Mr. Echevarria began vomiting and complaining of severe pain.
When a correction officer alerted Captain Pendergrass to Mr. Echevarria’s condition, the captain told the officer not to bother him unless “there was a dead body,” the complaint said.
The medical examiner ruled Mr. Echevarria’s death a homicide, citing “neglect and denial of medical care.” The chemicals in the soap had sloughed off the linings of Mr. Echevarria’s tongue and throat, according to the medical examiner’s post-autopsy report.
Mr. Pendergrass, of Howard Beach, Queens, has denied that the correction officer told him Mr. Echevarria was sick, said Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains Association. He said several other jail officials who were nearby did nothing to help, and noted that Mr. Echevarria had a history of acting up.
Mr. Echevarria, who suffered from bipolar disorder, had been placed in a solitary confinement unit after several suicide attempts and an attempt to swallow a battery, according to the criminal complaint. The unit where he was housed was reserved for mentally ill inmates.
Over the last five years, about 20 correction officers have been prosecuted in connection with assaults on inmates, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office, which has jurisdiction over Rikers Island.
Anthony J. Girese, counsel to the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said that establishing a direct line of responsibility to Mr. Pendergrass was difficult under state homicide statutes. After ruling out state charges, the Bronx district attorney worked with the United States attorney on filing the case under federal civil rights law.
After the raw sewage leak on Aug. 18, Mr. Echevarria was given a soap ball, a cleaning agent that contained, among other things, ammonium chloride, a chemical that can be life-threatening if ingested, the complaint said.
The medical examiner ruled Mr. Echevarria’s death a homicide, citing “neglect and denial of medical care.” The chemicals in the soap had sloughed off the linings of Mr. Echevarria’s tongue and throat, according to the medical examiner’s post-autopsy report.
Mr. Pendergrass, of Howard Beach, Queens, has denied that the correction officer told him Mr. Echevarria was sick, said Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains Association. He said several other jail officials who were nearby did nothing to help, and noted that Mr. Echevarria had a history of acting up.
Mr. Echevarria, who suffered from bipolar disorder, had been placed in a solitary confinement unit after several suicide attempts and an attempt to swallow a battery, according to the criminal complaint. The unit where he was housed was reserved for mentally ill inmates.
Over the last five years, about 20 correction officers have been prosecuted in connection with assaults on inmates, according to the Bronx district attorney’s office, which has jurisdiction over Rikers Island.
Anthony J. Girese, counsel to the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said that establishing a direct line of responsibility to Mr. Pendergrass was difficult under state homicide statutes. After ruling out state charges, the Bronx district attorney worked with the United States attorney on filing the case under federal civil rights law.
After the raw sewage leak on Aug. 18, Mr. Echevarria was given a soap ball, a cleaning agent that contained, among other things, ammonium chloride, a chemical that can be life-threatening if ingested, the complaint said.
Under Department of Correction rules, correction officers must dilute the soap balls in several gallons of water before providing them to inmates. But the officer distributing them was new and not aware of the rule, according to the complaint.
About 4:30 p.m. Mr. Echevarria began banging on his cell door, telling a correction officer that he needed help after ingesting the soap ball, according to the complaint. That officer informed Captain Pendergrass of Mr. Echevarria’s condition. Captain Pendergrass told the officer that he should not be bothered “if there were live inmates in cells,” according to the complaint.
A short time later, the correction officer returned to Captain Pendergrass after seeing vomit on the window and floor of Mr. Echevarria’s cell. The captain told the officer that Mr. Echevarria should “hold it,” according to the complaint.
Captain Pendergrass’s shift ended at 11 p.m., and Mr. Echevarria had still received no medical attention, the complaint said. Several other correction officers passed through Mr. Echevarria’s unit that afternoon, evening and overnight. About 8:30 the next morning, he was found dead in his cell.
On Monday, a spokesman for the Correction Department said that immediately after the death, Mr. Pendergrass, who joined the department in 1996, was placed on modified duty. He was demoted in July 2013, and on Monday he was suspended without pay.
One correction officer, Raymond Castro, was fired after Mr. Echevarria’s death. Mr. Castro then filed a wrongful termination suit against the city and the Correction Department, claiming that he alerted Captain Pendergrass several times to Mr. Echevarria’s worsening condition and was rebuffed. In his complaint, he also claimed that he tried to call medical personnel on his own, but was stopped by Captain Pendergrass, who ordered him to return to his post.
Mr. Echevarria’s father, Ramon, filed a lawsuit in 2013 against Mr. Pendergrass and several other Rikers personnel, alleging that they violated his son’s constitutional rights.
Ramon Echevarria declined to speak to a reporter about the case on Monday.
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