A Rikers Island detainee suffering from clear signs of medical distress waited for roughly 3 ½ hours in a clinic holding pen without being seen because jail officers didn’t tell medical staff he was having a medical emergency, a scathing new report released Friday shows.
John Price, 49, died from pneumonia with a MRSA infection, as he waited for care inside the Eric M. Taylor Center on March 28, the Board of Correction review revealed.
The board’s 31-page report also detailed multiple familiar breakdowns tied to three other recent deaths in custody. They included: correction officers failing to conduct meaningful tours of housing areas, inaccurate handwritten logbook entries, officers leaving their posts, and detainees gathering in unassigned areas because of broken cell doors…