A Queens man has filed a lawsuit against the city of New York after correction officers failed to tell him he had a $1 bail, which caused him to spend 5 months on Rikers Island.
According to the NY Daily News, Aitabdel Salem was arrested for assaulting a police officer while being arrested for a coat theft incident back in 2014. Originally, the judge set Aitabdel’s bail at $25,000, however due to the lack of evidence regarding the assault, the judge made a decision for Salem to be released and lowered his bail to $1. Still thinking his bail was $25,000, Salem failed to post it and was whisked away to a jail cell until his next court date.
“Mr. Salem implored corrections officers within [Rikers Island] to tell him what happened on his respective court dates,” the lawsuit states. “None of the corrections officers told him that he was ordered to be free on Nov. 28, 2014, because his bail had been reduced [to] $1.”
The lawsuit also claims Salem’s “unrelenting pleas” for more information on his release date was never answered.
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Photo credit: Jefferson Siegal/ NY Daily News
