Who Is Nicole Garbellotto? NYPD Custody Death Victim’s Relatives To Sue The State For Information, Report Says

The city is being sued for information by the relatives of a 34-year-old woman who died last month while she was in New York Police Department’s custody, a new report shows. Nicole Garbellotto’s family told New York Daily News that they were yet to hear about the details of her death from authorities.

On Dec. 7, the Brooklyn resident was found passed out in her car at the Verrazano Bridge toll plaza shortly after 6 p.m. As she was suffering from a drug overdose, FDNY medics revived her with a shot of the antioverdose drug Naloxone following which she was taken to the Staten Island University North Hospital. The next day she was released into the custody of the NYPD to be charged with DWI.

Garbellotto was being held at the 120th Precinct stationhouse, where she was found unconscious in her cell. On being taken to Richmond University Medical Center around noon, she was pronounced dead.

“I wouldn’t wish this on any parent. I just want to know what happened to my daughter. I have been unable to sleep and I need some justice,” Garbellotto’s mother, Donna Rosa told the publication.

While the autopsy on Garbellotto was inconclusive, the family is set to file a suit in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, asking a judge to order the city, hospitals and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to preserve evidence that may be linked to the case. This would be the first step in a possible wrongful-death lawsuit which could be filed by the relatives to seek damages.

“Ms. Garbellotto was killed by the respondents’ failure to address her obvious medical needs, despite their obligation to do so,” Garbellotto’s lawyer David Rankin reportedly wrote in the suit.

“The family has a right to know what happened to Nicole,” the family’s attorney told the Daily News on Wednesday.