A rookie Rikers Island guard — who was fired after an inmate swallowed a poisonous mixture of soap and bleach on his watch — is suing to get his job back, claiming that his supervisor is to blame for the death.
Raymond Castro says he alerted Captain Terrence Pendergrass in on Aug. 17, 2012 that a burglary suspect named Jason Echevarria had ingested the toxic substance used to clean the cells and needed medical attention.
But Pendergrass allegedly brushed Castro off saying, “Don’t call me if you have live, breathing bodies. Only call me if you need an extraction, or if you have a dead body. Tell him [the inmate] to hold that,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Castro admits in the suit that after Echevarria started vomiting Pendergrass asked if he had called for medical attention. But he claims when he told his boss he was looking for a contact number, the captain ordered him back to his post before he could get help.
Echevarria, 25, died later that night after Castro had finished his shift.
Castro, who’d worked as a guard since 2011, was interviewed by the city’s Dept. of Investigation, the US Attorney’s Office and the Manhattan District Attorneys after the incident.
A spokesman for the District Attorney’s office said that no charges were filed after the probe because “nothing that we looked at rose up to the level of criminal liability.”
Still, Castro was fired in July 2013 for misconduct surrounding the death of the inmate.
Patrick Ferraiuolo, president of the Correction Captains’ Association, told the Post Pendergass was demoted to Correction Officer. He has filed a grievance with the city because he believes Pendergass was wrongfully punished.
Echevarria’s father Ramon also filed a $20 million suit against the city over his son’s death. That case is pending in Manhattan federal court.
“We’d be very interested to hear from higher ups about their decision to lay the blame on the most junior employee and let the supervisor get off scot-free,” Ramon’s attorney, Joshua Kelner told the Post in an interview.
He said Castro’s story meshes with information he’s uncovered for his federal case.
The city’s Law Department said, “We recently received the lawsuit and are in the process of reviewing the claims.”