HELL'S KITCHEN — A culinary high school student whose classmates locked him inside a walk-in freezer and threatened him with knives suffered “severe nervous shock and mental anguish” as a result, a new lawsuit charges.
Three students at Food and Finance High School, at 525 W. 50th St. between 10th and 11th avenues, locked 16-year-old Jovan Ortiz inside a classroom freezer for a “dangerously long period of time” in May 2016 after a teacher asked him to go inside as part of a school activity, a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by the boy’s mother, Wajana Vallecillo, last week says.
While he was trapped inside, the trio threatened to kill him with knives and kept other students from unlocking the door, the suit claims.
“...[Ortiz] was severely injured and damaged… [and] sustained severe nervous shock and mental anguish, great physical pain, emotional upset, humiliation, scorn, ridicule and psychological damages” that have and will continue to warrant medical expenses, the suit says.
No one was supervising the classroom when the incident happened, notes the suit, which was filed against the boy’s teacher, the city Department of Education, the school and the city of New York.
Police last year arrested three students in connection with the incident, which they said lasted for about 10 minutes.
All three of the students were released after being issued desk appearance tickets, the NYPD said at the time.
Vallecillo told the New York Post her son called her to ask for help while he was locked inside the freezer. He was later diagnosed with PTSD, she added.
Her attorney and the principal of Food and Finance did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department said the agency will review the suit.
