The family of a legally blind, diabetic inmate is suing the city for allowing a man to die in custody after falling down a flight of stairs in Manhattan Criminal Court. Apolinar Solis, 51, fell and cracked his skull while he was being taken from a holding pen to the Correction Department pens.
The family of Apolinar Solis says that Apolinar should have never been around steps in November 2013 due to the large ulcer on the bottom of his foot, not to mention that the 51 year-old inmate is blind in one eye.
The family of Apolinar Solis also claimed that emergency medical personnel had failed to apply ice to Solis’ head both before and after an ambulance arrived on scene.
“Basic first aid was lacking,” said the family lawyer Ilya Novofastovsky.
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.
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.