The future of an NYPD cop who fatally shot a man during a traffic stop in the Bronx is coming down to two very different versions of events painted during an internal disciplinary hearing that wrapped up Wednesday.
Lt. Jonathan Rivera testified that he shot Allan Feliz because he thought a fellow officer had fallen to the ground and was about to be run over or dragged by Feliz’s SUV, which was lurching back and forth. Feliz was fatally shot at point blank range by Rivera during a struggle following a car stop at E. 211th St. and Bainbridge Ave. on Oct. 17, 2019.
“I had to act to stop him from driving off and dragging [Edward] Barrett,” Rivera testified Tuesday. “So I made the decision to end the threat.”
Rivera’s attorney, James Moschella, said Feliz’s “reckless acts clearly caused his death.”
But CCRB prosecutor Deanna Everett Johnson said Rivera flouted all his training and the NYPD penal law by acting so recklessly while trying to subdue Feliz.
“He didn’t use any less lethal tactics like his baton or pepper spray, which he had on him,” Johnson said, asking NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado to fire Rivera.
“He had tactical training. He should have used it.”
Feliz’s family made clear how they want to see the case end.
“Fire him!” they yelled as they left an NYPD trial room at police headquarters Wednesday, calling the disciplinary proceeding for Rivera a sham tribunal filled with victim blaming. “Fire Rivera for Allan today!”
The Civilian Complaint Review Board’s prosecution of Rivera was delayed by five years because the police dragged their feet in getting videos and other reports to the police watchdog agency needed to conduct an investigation, relatives and advocates have repeatedly claimed.
As a result, the 18-month statute of limitations on discipline for Rivera, which starts on the day of the incident, expired and, much like in the departmental trial of the cops who fatally shot Kawaski Trawick in 2019, the CCRB has a higher evidence threshold and must prove Rivera violated state penal law for assault and menacing.
“There’s no justice in this. There’s no fairness,” said Loyda Colón, the executive director of the Justice Committee, an advocacy group, said about Maldonado’s double standard. “This is the NYPD shielding its officer. This is a perfect example of the blue wall. And that’s dangerous for all of us.”
Sources with knowledge of the case said the CCRB received a complaint about Feliz’s death on Nov. 20, 2020, more than a year after his death. The CCRB immediately asked for the body worn camera footage, but the NYPD Force Investigation Division didn’t release any information to them until Dec. 8, 2021, six days after the statute of limitations ran out.
Rivera and Detectives Edward Barrett and Michelle Almanzar had pulled Feliz over believing that he was driving without a seat belt. When they finally stopped him, they realized he did have his seat belt on, but ran the name he gave them, Samy Feliz — Allan’s brother — through their computer.
When cops found several open warrants in Samy Feliz’s name, they tried to take Feliz into custody.
Feliz jumped back behind the wheel of his vehicle and tried to speed away, sparking the deadly confrontation.
In body camera footage, the officers taze and beat Feliz, trying to get him back out of the car. During the madness, Rivera jumps through the driver’s side window with a gun in one hand and a tazer in the other, demanding Feliz’s surrender.
“Yo! If I have to end up f—–g shooting you, Bro!” Lt. Rivera is heard screaming as Feliz wails in pain from repeated Taser shocks. “Yo, Bro! I’m going to f—–g shoot you.”
Maldonado will determine if Rivera violated the law in the next few weeks. Her decision and recommendation for Rivera’s future will then be sent to the police commissioner, who will make a final determination in this case.
After the proceeding, Feliz’s mother, Mery Verdeja, said Moschella “was constantly painting my son like a criminal.”
Rivera’s lawyers said they brought up Feliz’s record because they wanted to help establish the dead man’s “state of mind” when he tried to escape Rivera,
“It’s just embarrassing,” Feliz’s sister Ashley Verdeja said, translating for her mother. “She has no hope at this point.”
“This is not going to bring us justice,” she said about the disciplinary trial. “This is another case that will get swept under the rug.”