Rikers Island Inmate Joseph Foster Died After Alleged Neglect Of Medical Care

A Riker’s Island inmate died earlier this month after the jail staff allegedly delayed the process of getting him proper medical care, reports stated.

According to a report by the New York Daily News, the inmate identified as Joseph Foster, 51, who was kept at the Eric M. Taylor Center at Bronx, New York, requested medical help from the jail officials after suffering from a headache. He also complained of numb feeling on the left side of his body.

According to New York City Department of Correction records, jail officials waited for an hour before calling an ambulance which transferred Foster to Elmhurst Hospital Center on Dec. 30, 2017, at 7:50 p.m. UTC (2:50 p.m. EST).

Five days later, on Jan. 4, 2018, Foster died, the report stated.

Carlos Renta, another inmate at the same prison facility who gave an interview via prison telephone this month, said with regards to the action taken by jail officials: “They should have acted sooner.”

Renta continued: “He [Foster] kept screaming, ‘I need a doctor! I need a doctor!’”

Renta said that he contacted the newspaper as he was quite disturbed by the incident which happened with Foster.

The report further stated that New York City Board of Correction, which looks after the medical care for inmates, is investigating the case.

Foster’s older brother, Wendell Pittman, 61, said: “We want to know what happened."

“I don’t believe that he [Foster] got proper medication,” he added.

Pittman also stated that Foster seemed to be in good health when they had a conversation the last time, which was two weeks before the latter’s death. Foster, who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, was serving a six-month sentence after being arrested for selling drugs.

According to court records, Foster’s lawyer had asked for additional medical care during his trial on Dec. 13, 2017.

However, jail officials stated that correctional officers had done their duty on Dec. 30 after Foster informed them about his pain.

New York City Department of Correction spokesman Peter Thorne gave an official account of the incident stating that the jail officers instantly transferred Foster to the medical facility within Taylor Center. He also added that the doctors at the medical facility “responded within minutes.”

The medical examiner’s office is yet to declare the exact cause of Thorne's death.

Foster worked as a driver for The Doe Fund, an American non-profit organization which works towards providing housing, employment, and counseling to people who were homeless and incarcerated.

According to a criminal complaint, Foster was arrested for selling crack on Dec. 12 by New York City Housing Authority’s King Towers in Harlem. The police authorities discovered 11 zip-locked bags containing crack cocaine which was hidden inside Foster’s right sleeve.

Foster also faced misdemeanor charges for attacking a resident inside the Doe Fund’s Harlem housing complex, according to records.

The Doe Fund’s intake coordinator, Michael Allen, stated that Foster had expressed excitement on the prospect of coming out of jail in April.

“We were about to hire him [Foster] back. He was a great guy,” added Allen.

According to multiple sources, the jail officials and Foster’s lawyer faced a tough time finding the deceased’s family partially because Foster gave the name of his mother, Regina Foster, as his emergency contact, who also died recently.

His lawyer also tried very hard to get Foster out of jail early on the grounds of compassionate release, the report stated.