ALBANY – New York City will have to pay a $2.57 million judgment for botching a 911 call, contributing to the death almost 10 years ago of a 20-year-old Co-Op City resident, the state’s top court held yesterday.
The Court of Appeals action left in place a lower court ruling that found the city liable for the 1994 death of Todd Russell, who suffered a severe asthma attack at 120 De Kruif Place in The Bronx.
The attack led his companion, Monique Joy Adderley, to call 911 for an ambulance, but the city’s emergency operator, who took down the address where Adderley was calling from, failed to get the apartment number or to record Russell’s name.
As a result, when emergency medical technicians arrived at the scene they found a 32-story building, but had no idea how to proceed.
By the time Adderley called 911 again and a second ambulance arrived, Russell had stopped breathing and gone into a fatal coronary arrest, according to court papers.