Family of man killed by NYPD lieutenant protest his remaining on the job

LOWER MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Allan Feliz, 31, was killed when an NYPD sergeant shot at him during a traffic stop in the Bronx in 2019.

Now, that Sergeant, Jonathan Rivera has been promoted to lieutenant, and even though the NYPD's own administrative judge had ruled that Rivera be fired from the department, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has indicated that she'll let Rivera keep his position.

That decision spurred family members and supporters of shooting victim Feliz to protest outside of police headquarters on Tuesday evening. 

They chanted the name of the man who'd allegedly tried to drive away after officers had pulled him over for not wearing a seatbelt in the October 2019 incident. During the stop, Lt. Rivera shot Feliz in the chest, and later said that he'd done so out of concern that his fellow officers' lives were in danger. 

Feliz's family said that the ruling of the administrative judge, Deputy Commissioner Rosemarie Maldonado, that Rivera should be fired was sound. They said that the reversal of that decision by Maldonado's boss, the police commissioner, sends a foul message. 

"That you can get away with murder in New York City," said Samy Feliz, brother of Allan Feliz, "as long as you have a badge."

The victim's brother, as well as his mother, Mery Verdeja, and his sister, Ashley Verdeja, joined supporters in openly criticizing the commissioner's decision at the protest outside of police headquarters on Tuesday evening.

One after another, speakers condemned Commissioner Tisch's preliminary decision to not dismiss Lt. Rivera. 

"It's unjust and it's not fair to us," said Ashley Verdeja, Feliz's sister, in an interview after the demonstration. 

The family was joined by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, some city councilmembers, and other activists at the protest that was organized by the Justice Committee, an activist group on judicial issues. 

They all said that Commissioner Tisch can reverse her decision. They want her to do so by Friday, when the Citizens' Complaint Review Board, or CCRB -- the agency that investigates police abuse -- makes its final recommendation in the case. 

"I think that the CCRB will be fully in our favor in saying that this officer is guilty and that he still deserves to lose his job," Feliz's brother Samy said, "because we know that's what's right."

Attorneys for Lt. Rivera and the Lieutenants' Benevolent Association and the Sergeants' Benevolent Association -- police unions representing Rivera -- have praised the commissioner's decision. The unions, as well as Rivera's attorneys, have pointed out that New York Attorney General Letitia James found no criminality in the lieutenant's case when she investigated it.  

However, both the attorney general and the police commissioner criticized Lt. Rivera's actions in their decisions that allowed him to stay on the force. Those criticisms, the victim's family and supporters said, are strong reasons for him to be dismissed. 

Mery Verdeja, Feliz's mother, spoke in Spanish about her frustrations with the case. "There is no justice," she said, as her daughter Ashley translated. 

The daughter continued, "We're asking just for the bare minimum. The bare minimum is just fire Lt. Rivera."

The family and their supporters said that they'll return to police headquarters on Friday to hear the CCRB's decision, which is expected to condemn Lt. Rivera. 

There is little indication that Commissioner Tisch will reverse her decision to allow Rivera to remain in uniform. 

The family has a pending civil litigation against the city as well.