HARLEM — A disabled man was found dead Tuesday inside a van parked outside a Harlem program for developmentally handicapped people.
Alonzo Eason, 48, who lived in a group home on East Fifth Street, was found dead Tuesday afternoon in the backseat of a Ford Econoline van outside 2082 Lexington Ave., police said.
The New York Times reported that he had been left inside the vehicle for six hours.
The paper said a group of disabled adults were dropped at the building at 9 a.m. Eason wasn't discovered until about 3:30 p.m., after the van was moved to the front of the building to pick up passengers.
Temperatures in Manhattan reached into the 90s Tuesday.
The Medical Examiner said it may be weeks before the cause of death is determined.
The van is owned by the social-services agency AHRC New York City. AHRC also operates the East Village home where Eason lived.
Shirley Berenstein, the organization's director of program development, said Eason had spent most of his life with AHRC.
"It is with tremendous sorrow that we mourn the loss of this young man," she said in a statement. "He will be missed by his friends at both his residence and his adult day supports and will be forever in our thoughts."
She said an internal investigation of his death had started, and the organization was also working with the police.
A longtime neighbor of the group home, who asked not to be named, said, "the impression I have is the home is run fabulously by the staff.
"It's horrifying," said the woman, who did not recognize the deceased man's name. "I'm totally stunned."
Police said their investigation is ongoing, and nobody had been charged as of Wednesday afternoon.
The New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, which granted AHRC its license to operate in New York, said the death sparked the agency to launch a “comprehensive review of system-wide policies" and remind all providers of the "mandatory requirements in how individuals are accounted for and their presence verified, and is requiring consistent practices for alerting an individual’s residential program and emergency contact of their disappearance."
According to the OPWDD website, van safety regulations require that "Individuals should not be left unattended in a van."
“Let me be clear; it is unacceptable that this man’s absence went unnoticed for several hours. OPWDD has required corrective action by this provider to prevent this type of tragic lapse from happening again," OPWDD Commissioner Courtney Burke said in a statement, adding that the agency would cooperate with law enforcement and would allow police to decide whether charges should be brought.
“My thoughts are with Alonzo’s loved ones at this difficult time. We have an obligation to learn from this tragedy and implement policies that prevent anyone else from the pain this terrible incident has caused,” Burke added.
