Blind inmate dies after falling down courthouse stairs, family sues city
The family of Apolinar Solis says he should have been moved on a wheelchair because he had a large ulcer on the bottom of his foot and was limping. He’s also blind in one eye. Solis, 51, fell and cracked his skull while he was being taken from a holding pen at the courtroom to the Correction Department pens.
BY BARBARA ROSS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 9:30 PM
Updated: Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 9:30 PM
- A
- A
- A
NOVO LAW FIRMApolinar Solis, 51, who was legally blind, was scheduled to see a judge on a drug possession case. He fell and cracked his skull, said lawyer Ilya Novofastovsky.
The family of a legally blind, diabetic inmate is suing the city for allowing the man to die in custody after falling down a flight of stairs in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The family of Apolinar Solis says in new court papers that the 51-year-old inmate should never have been permitted to be on the stairs in November 2013 because he had a large ulcer on the bottom of his foot and was limping around on a soft cast.
They also claim that emergency medical personnel — both before and after an ambulance arrived — failed to apply ice to Solis’ head.
“Basic first aid was lacking,” said the family lawyer Ilya Novofastovsky.
He said that as a result, Solis, who was conscious after the fall, died of brain swelling and a blood clot caused by the fall, which fractured his skull.
Novofastovsky said Solis was in poor health when he went into the Correction Department custody in October 2013 on a drug charge. He was blind in one eye, had failing kidneys that required regular dialysis, and was a diabetic.
While at Rikers Island, where he was held because he couldn’t make bail, Solis’ condition deteriorated and the ulcer first appeared and worsened, the lawyer added. He said that by the time Solis was taken to court and held there an entire day from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., he should have been in a wheelchair.
SUSAN WATTS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSApolinar Solis fell outside Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre St.
Solis fell as he was being taken by court officers from a holding pen outside a courtroom at 100 Centre Street back to the Correction Department pens.
Ridelin Solis, who filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on behalf of her father’s estate, charges the city and Corzon Health Inc., the city’s health care provider at Rikers, with malpractice, negligence and violating Solis’ civil rights. She seeks unspecified damages.
A spokesman for the city Law Department said the “legal matter will be reviewed.”
