The brother of a motorist fatally shot by a Bronx cop during a car stop six years ago is slamming NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s decision to keep the officer on the force, calling the move “a complete disrespect to law and order.”
“The folks who are put in place to protect and serve us, it’s okay for them to harm, hurt, abuse, kill New Yorkers and not receive any type of accountability for those actions,” Sammy Feliz, Allan Feliz’s younger brother, told the Daily News Friday.
Allan Feliz’s family was left distraught and stunned over Commissioner Tisch’s order to spare Lt. Jonathan Rivera following the fatal October 2019 clash that began when Rivera and two other officers, Edward Barrett and Michelle Almanzar, pulled over Feliz for not wearing a seat belt near Woodlawn Cemetery.
Feliz, for some reason, gave cops his brother Sammy’s driver’s license. Sammy had three minor warrants — for spitting, littering, and disorderly conduct — according to police.
Rivera and his team ordered Feliz to step out of the car so they could pat him down, but Allan hit the gas and tried to drive away in his Volkswagen while Barrett was pulling him out of the car, officials said.
Rivera fired his Taser at Feliz, then leapt into the Volkswagen and threatened to shoot him as a physical struggle ensued, according to body camera footage. Meanwhile, Barrett was still trying to yank Feliz out of the vehicle.
“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.”
A few moments later the car lurched forward and Rivera shot Feliz, cops said. Feliz later died at Montefiore Medical Center.
Rivera claimed he shot Feliz because he believed Feliz was about to run over Barrett.
Over the last six years, the family of Allan Feliz has repeatedly called for Rivera to be fired.
In 2020, New York State Attorney General Letitia James cleared Rivera of criminal culpability but raised questions about the police tactics in this case.
In February, following a departmental trial, Deputy Commissioner Rosemarie Maldonado found Rivera guilty of first-degree assault and recommended he be fired.
But Tisch, who had final say on disciplinary decisions, determined Rivera acted within department guidelines.
“I am convinced that [Officer Rivera] shot Mr. Feliz because he believed that doing so was necessary to save Officer Barrett’s life,” Tisch said in a nine-page decision released Thursday. “I agree with the Attorney General’s analysis and find that [Rivera’s] shooting of Mr. Feliz was justified.”
Tisch’s decision rattled Sammy Feliz and his family to the core.
“I have no sense of public safety. I don’t feel safe,” Sammy Feliz, 35, said. “I haven’t felt safe since my brother has been killed.”
Yul-san Liem, the deputy director of the Justice Committee said that Tisch’s decision is preliminary — at least for the next week. The Civilian Complaint Review Board has five days to respond to Tisch’s decision, which she will review and determine if she wants to keep her findings or change them.
The Justice Committee plans to join Feliz’s family in a rally on Tuesday to demand Tisch overturn her decision.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams also rallied behind Allan Feliz’s family, disagreeing with Commissioner Tisch’s decision.
“[It] betrays the public trust and accountability that is necessary to advance public safety,” Adams said in a joint statement with Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, claiming that Tisch had “re-traumatized” Feliz’s family with her decision.
“We urge Commissioner Tisch to reject the corrupt status quo practices of the past and follow the NYPD judge and CCRB’s recommendation,” she said.
When reached for comment, the NYPD cited Tisch’s decision.
With Thomas Tracy
