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Family Of Man Who Died At Rikers Will Sue For $10 Million
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 17, 2009
Modified Jun 17, 2009
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The family of a man who died from a lacerated liver during an altercation with correction officers at Rikers Island will sue the city for $10 million. Clarence Mobley, 60, was in custody at the jail on May 2nd, awaiting a psychiatric evaluation related to robbery charges, when he "took a swing" at an officer with a metal tray. He was subdued and placed in a holding cell, and was later found dead. Yesterday the medical examiner ruled it a homicide, finding that Mobley died from a tear in his liver caused by a blow; NYPD investigators are still looking into the incident. Mobley had taken a bus from North Carolina to NYC on April 25th to attend a family funeral, but he never contacted his family when he arrived, for reasons unknown to them. Five days later he was arrested trying to break into an apartment in Queens. His son Darian tells the Times, "Everybody is hurting. My father didn’t deserve that. He was a little guy." The civil lawsuit is just the latest related to a death at Rikers, where corruption among the guards is allegedly endemic.
Tagged
death
family
lawsuit
Rikers Island
suing
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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