This was originally published on the SGR Blog.
Were City, Hospital and Police Officer Liable for Injury?
On August 25, 2017, while under arrest by the New York City Police Department, Joseph Curet was taken by ambulance from the precinct to St. Barnabas Hospital due to complaints of chest pain. He was accompanied to the Hospital by P.O. Joseph Keith. Curet’s left arm was cuffed to the stretcher and his legs were in shackles. Keith remained with Curet in the emergency room. While laying on the stretcher in the emergency room, Curet was suddenly approached by another patient, Tomas Berroa, and was stabbed in the chest and the right arm.
Curet testified that, on August 25, 2017, he took PCP and called 911 threatening to kill police officers, after having an argument with an officer in the 7-Eleven across the street from his home. As a result, NYPD officers responded to his home and he was arrested. He was taken to the 46th Precinct and began experiencing chest pains. An ambulance was called, and he was taken to the hospital. Keith went with Curet to the hospital. Curet was in the emergency room for five minutes when the incident occurred. Tthe entire time, Keith was standing with him. After five minutes passed, Berroa stabbed him. Curet had never seen Berroa prior to the incident. He did not notice him in the emergency room in the five minutes prior to the incident. He did not have any conversation with Berroa in the emergency room. He was never affiliated with a gang. Keith was standing next to Curet when he was stabbed. After the stabbing occurred Keith restrained Berroa.
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