Four correction officers, including a captain, at New York City's Rikers Island jail were suspended and accused of "extremely troubling" behavior after they allegedly stood by for seven minutes watching an 18-year-old inmate attempt to hang himself, authorities said.
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Add New York as an interest to stay up to date on the latest New York news, video, and analysis from ABC News.The inmate tried to take his own life on Thanksgiving Day at the jail's George R. Vierno Center with a piece of clothing as the jailers looked on before intervening, officials said.
"The claims being made here are extremely troubling and we are taking them seriously," Cynthia Brann, commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, said in a statement. "The safety and well-being of those in our custody is our number one priority and an investigation into this incident is underway. Three officers and one captain have already been suspended and if the outcome of the investigation warrants we will take appropriate disciplinary action up to and including termination."
The names of the suspended correction officers were not immediately released.
Brann said the incident, which occurred at about midnight Nov. 28, was referred to the city's Department of Investigation to conduct an independent inquiry.
The teenage inmate, identified by the city's Legal Aid Society as Nicholas Feliciano, was placed at Rikers Island on Nov. 18 after he was arrested on a parole violation.
The 18-year-old attempted suicide shortly after being removed from the general population after getting into a fight, officials said.
Feliciano was in a medically-induced coma Wednesday morning and remains under guard in the intensive care unit at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, according to the Legal Aid Society, which has assigned a defense attorney to represent him.
“” These constraints have already exacerbated his family’s grief and anxiety around this tragedy.The Legal Aid Society said Feliciano has a history of mental health problems and suicide attempts.
"Nicholas’ tragedy illustrates the dangers and horrors of relying on our broken parole and correctional systems to address a mental health crisis," the Legal Aid Society said in a statement released on Wednesday. "Despite his young age and known mental health history of past suicide attempts, Nicholas, who is 18 years old, was remanded to New York City jails – a system with a poor track record of managing suicide risks during incarceration – on allegations that have so far resulted in no criminal charges."
(MORE: Family 'demands answers' in wake of transgender inmate's death)Feliciano's doctors and the Legal Aid Society's Parole Revocation Defense Unit are calling on the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision to release him from custody due to his critical condition and immediately dismiss the parole violation.
"These constraints have already exacerbated his family’s grief and anxiety around this tragedy," the Legal Aid Society's statement reads.
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