A burglary suspect being held in a Rikers Island jail died early Tuesday of a possible overdose after complaining of chest pain and then having a seizure, the Daily News has learned.
Felix Taveras, 40, began complaining of chest pain in the Anna M. Kross Center about 11:55 p.m. Monday, records obtained by The News show. He was taken to the clinic there where he began having the seizure.
The clinic staff gave him four doses of the Narcan anti-overdose drug, but he could not be revived. Medics took him to Elmhurst Hospital where he died at 1:21 a.m., officials said.
In a statement, DOC spokesman Frank Dwyer said an investigation is ongoing and the cause of death has yet to be determined.
“Based on preliminary departmental review, procedural violations were discovered and suspensions will be issued,” he said.
Taveras was arrested on March 28 on a burglary charge out of Staten Island. He was also being held for bail jumping, records show.
His lawyer told The News Tuesday afternoon he had yet to be notified of his death and had no comment.
Benny Boscio of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association said too often officers get blamed for “circumstances beyond their control.”
“We are damned if we do, damned if we don’t, while the inmates violate the rules and regulations with impunity,” he said in a statement.
Taveras’ death was the fourth linked to the city jails in 2023, following 19 deaths in 2022 and 16 in 2021.
Previously in 2023, Joshua Valles, 31, also housed at the Kross Center, died May 27 of a still unknown cause of death, though an autopsy revealed that he had a skull fracture. He died at North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital.
On May 16, Rubu Zhao, 52, jumped from an upper tier in the PACE mental health unit at the George R. Vierno Center and fractured his skull. He died at Elmhurst Hospital.
The Valles and Zhao cases were two of five serious incidents cited by the federal monitor in highly critical reports which suggested there were attempts to cover up the incidents.
On Feb. 4, Marvin Pines, 65, went into medical distress at the North Infirmary Command. Five officers were suspended after it was found that no officer toured his area for three hours.
The Correction Department stopped reporting deaths in the jails without first being asked by the media or other entities in May.
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Taveras did at least one stint in state prison for weapons possession and was released in 2008.
He also had a series of prior arrests for burglary on Staten Island, including a bust for breaking through the wall of a restaurant there and stealing 7 bottles of alcohol.
An NYPD spokesman said he had 23 prior arrests largely for theft-related crimes.
A spokesman for the Staten Island District Attorney’s office could not be immediately reached for comment.
As of Monday, there were 6,119 people held in the the city jails, figures published by the Vera Institute show. The total has increased 6% since Jan. 3 when there were 5,768 people in the jails.
“On a day when our country supposedly celebrates freedom, another person has died in captivity – delivered a de facto death sentence for being accused of a burglary,” said Darren Mack, co-director of the advocacy group Freedom Agenda.
“And yet we have a mayor determined to bring about more of these tragedies – by doing everything in his power to fill up Rikers.”