The family of a man killed by police during a Bronx traffic stop six years ago may go to court to compel Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to terminate the NYPD lieutenant who fired the fatal shot, the Daily News has learned.
Allan Feliz’s family and several civil rights groups are considering taking legal action to force Tisch to fire Lt. Jonathan Rivera for the botched 2019 traffic stop.
Commissioner Tisch last week decided not to fire Rivera, even though NYPD trial judge Deputy Commissioner Rosemarie Maldonado found Rivera guilty of first-degree assault and recommended he be dismissed. Instead, she sided with an attorney general report that determined Rivera’s use of deadly force could not be proven to be unjustified “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The trial judge’s determination is only a recommendation, NYPD officials said. The police commissioner has the final say in all discipline matters and can impose stricter or more lenient sentencing if she wishes, officials said.
In a letter exclusively shared with The News, advocates, which include LatinoJustice, the Justice Committee, and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the decision to ignore Maldonado’s findings was “arbitrary and capricious” and “constitutes an abuse of discretion as a matter of law.”
“Deputy Commissioner Maldonado looked Lieutenant Rivera in the eye, listened to his testimony, and determined that he was lying,” said Andrew Case, supervising counsel of LatinoJustice, who co-wrote the letter. “The hearing officer is the best person to judge witnesses — this is a basic principle of law that the Commissioner should have learned in law school.”
“Tisch’s decision violates that principle and therefore constitutes an abuse of her discretion to impose discipline,” Case said.
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz, speaks during a press conference outside NYPD Headquarters in Manhattan last year. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Advocates plan to deliver the letter to Tisch on Friday, following a noon rally outside NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan with the Feliz family.
Rivera and two other officers pulled Feliz over in his Volkswagen near Woodlawn Cemetery for not wearing a seat belt, according to police.
For some reason, Feliz handed them a driver’s license that actually belonged to his brother, Sammy, who had three minor warrants — for spitting, littering and disorderly conduct — according to police. The officers reportedly asked him to step out of the car so they could pat him down, but Feliz hit the gas and tried to drive away while an officer was trying to pull him out of the car, officials said.
Rivera fired his Taser at Feliz, then got into the car on the passenger’s side and threatened to shoot Rivera as a physical struggle ensued, according to body camera footage, as another officer attempted 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.”
Moments later, as the car lurched forward, Rivera shot Feliz in the chest. Feliz later died at Montefiore Medical Center.
Rivera has always argued he believed Feliz was about to run over one of the other officers when he fired.
Yul-san Liem, the deputy director of the Justice Committee said the decision to spare Rivera is preliminary. The CCRB has sent in their response to Tisch’s decision and she will have another opportunity to review the response and determine if she wants to keep her findings or change them.
