A 22-year-old man died in East Harlem on Saturday, May 2, after a long wait for an ambulance ended with NYPD officers loading him into a patrol car and racing him to the hospital themselves. The NYPD has launched a formal review because the man’s death happened while he was in police custody.
How a 911 call turned into a 40-minute ordeal
According to the New York Daily News, officers were dispatched to East 116th Street near Lexington Avenue around 5:40 p.m. after a 911 caller reported that a man might have overdosed and appeared emotionally disturbed.
Police requested an ambulance at about 5:44 p.m. and called again at 6:05 p.m. when medics still had not arrived, the report states. By roughly 6:25 p.m., with no FDNY EMS crew on scene, officers decided they had waited long enough. They put the man in a patrol car and drove him to Harlem Hospital, arriving around 6:29 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:56 p.m.
All told, police sources say the encounter stretched for close to 40 minutes before the decision was made to transport him in the squad car.
Why the Force Investigation Division is on the case
Any time someone dies while in NYPD custody, the case is routed to the department’s Force Investigation Division, and that is what is happening here. The NYPD’s public use-of-force guidance notes that FID investigates incidents in which a subject dies or is seriously injured, and that its reviews can draw on body-worn camera footage, supervisor reports and other evidence.
The same guidance explains how such cases are classified and handled, including internal review procedures and how the findings can be shared with other authorities.
Ambulance delays and a strained EMS system
This East Harlem death lands in the middle of growing concern over FDNY EMS staffing levels and longer citywide ambulance response times. A Columbia News Service investigation has documented chronic understaffing and rising response times in recent years, while City Council testimony from EMS union leaders has warned that average response times for the most critical calls have been climbing.
Those findings, along with a November 2024 council hearing, provide broader context on the pressures FDNY EMS has been facing in terms of personnel and fleet capacity.
What officials are saying, and what comes next
City reporting notes that the FDNY did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the East Harlem call. Police sources told reporters the man had no arrest record and no documented history of drug use. Investigators have not yet released his name.
The NYPD says the Force Investigation Division review is ongoing as the department gathers statements and evidence. Depending on what FID finds, the case could be referred to other city oversight agencies or to prosecutors, which is standard procedure for in-custody deaths. For now, officials are keeping public details to a minimum while the investigation continues.
