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Family of man shot by NYPD during Bronx traffic stop sues to have cop fired
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 16, 2025
Modified Oct 16, 2025
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Catalina Gonella / Gothamist
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 16, 2025
Modified Oct 16, 2025
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The family of a Washington Heights man fatally shot by a police officer during a Bronx traffic stop in 2019 is suing the NYPD and its commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
The lawsuit seeks to voice Tisch’s August decision overruling a judge’s recommendation to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera, arguing it was unlawful. It’s the first step in what’s known as an article 78 proceeding, which is used to challenge government actions in New York State.
In a departmental trial, NYPD Judge Rosemarie Maldonado sided with the city’s police watchdog body, the Civilian Complaint Review Board — which said Rivera needlessly shot 31-year-old Allan Feliz as he tried to flee the stop. Feliz was initially stopped over an allegedly undone seatbelt.
But Tisch, who had the final say, concluded that Rivera acted reasonably, fearing that Feliz — who was in the driver’s seat as the two men physically struggled inside the vehicle — would injure other officers at the scene. She cited a 2020 report by New York Attorney General Letitia James that determined there was not enough evidence to prove Rivera’s use of deadly force was unlawful.
The lawsuit argues that Tisch’s decision was arbitrary, and that she “ignored nearly all the evidence that had been gathered since the [Attorney General’s Office] report” when she rejected Maldonado’s findings.
“This was illegal,” the lawsuit states. “Failing to consider five years of new evidence, including the hearing officer’s findings, is textbook arbitrary and capricious agency action. And overturning a hearing officer’s credibility findings — which even courts may only do in rare circumstances — is an abuse of her discretion.”
At a rally at the NYPD’s headquarters in Manhattan announcing the lawsuit Thursday, family members described the distress they said they’d experienced in the years since Feliz’s death, and said Tisch’s decision prolongs their suffering.
In October 2020, Mauricio Feliz looks at a painting of his uncle Allan Feliz during a press conference calling on the firing of the officers involved in his shooting death a year earlier.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
“ I don't want to think about this anymore, and it's almost as if I would just love to turn off my brain and sleep, but we can't even do that every time we see a police officer, even on TV or even hearing a siren, it just makes me nervous,” Ashley Verdeja, Feliz’s sister, said. “Since we never got any form of accountability, I can't help but believe that an officer will do the same thing to somebody else and also get away with it.”
Verdeja and other family members called for Rivera to be fired, and for the next mayor of New York City to replace Tisch.
“ By letting Rivera walk, Tish is sending a message that cops can racially profile, abuse and kill New Yorkers with total impunity and still be protected by the highest levels,” said Allan Feliz’s brother, Samy Feliz. “She's telling families like mine that no matter the facts, no matter how hard we fight or how long we take, we don't matter as much as protecting a killer cop.”
In an email response to a request for comment, an NYPD spokesperson referred Gothamist to the City Charter, which states that “the commissioner shall have cognizance and control of the government, administration, disposition and discipline of the department, and of the police force of the department.”
The announcement of the lawsuit comes on the sixth anniversary of the incident. At the rally Thursday, Allan Feliz’s 6-year-old son, Eli, led the family and supporters in a chant of his father’s name, before the group released white balloons into the sky over 1 Police Plaza to honor him.
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public safety
Catalina Gonella
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