RIKERS ISLAND: Commissioner Louis A. Molina Has A Second Prisoner Die On His Watch

THE BRONX: A man arrested on a bench warrant eight days ago for skipping court hearings in the Bronx on Thursday became the second detainee in the city jails to die in 2022, the Correction Department said.

George Pagan, 49, died at Elmhurst Hospital after being brought there by medics about 8:30 a.m. from a jail on Rikers Island, the agency said.

The cause of death was under investigation by the medical examiner's office

Pagan’s death follows that of Tarz Youngblood, 38, who was found unresponsive in a cell Feb. 27 at the George R. Vierno Center. Youngblood had been in Rikers since September.
In 2021, 15 detainees died at Rikers, and a 16th died just before he was to be sent there.

All deaths in custody are first investigated by the State Attorney General and the Department of Investigation.

Pagan wound up in Rikers after his arrest March 9 on a bench warrant for failure to appear in court to face a series of low level burglary and petit larceny charges from 2020 and 2021, a law enforcement official said.

His bail was set at just $1,006, records show.

The notorious New York City jail complex is made up of eight facilities.

The jail system has faced has faced violence, corruption, mismanagement, and understaffing issues for years.

The island is in the East River, north of LaGuardia Airport.

It is considered part of the Bronx. It is attached to Queens by a bridge.