Man who died in NYPD custody was jailed for low-level offense amid citywide trend, records show

A man who died in police custody last week after being accused of shoplifting was jailed because he didn't have identification, police said — part of a surge in arrests for petty theft, which has hit a 10-year high, according to police data.

Soso Ramishvili, 32, was one of a growing number of people detained under an NYPD practice of holding people accused of low-level crimes instead of releasing them with a court summons.

The practice has become more frequent as Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have voiced an increasingly tough-on-crime message — even against low-level offenders.

A 2019 law requires police to issue tickets for similar types of charges. These tickets, called desk appearance tickets, order a person to appear in court at a later date. An exception to the 2019 law allows police to detain someone if they can’t identify themselves.

The NYPD said there has been no recent change in how it applies that policy.

Police said Ramishvili was discovered unconscious on the morning of March 21 after having missed several initial appearances before a judge due to hospitalizations.

His official cause of death is still being investigated by the medical examiner, whose office said it could take several weeks to establish.

Ramishvili was arrested March 18 and charged with petit larceny — theft of less than $1,000. Police said he was seen at Home Depot taking $213 worth of merchandise off the shelves, putting it under his jacket, and walking out without paying.

Police said he was detained instead of being given a ticket because he didn’t possess identification. Authorities said he was allowed a phone call to a family member who could bring ID.

In 2021, 55% of people accused of petit larceny were given summonses and not detained, according to data kept by the state’s court system.

For the first two months of 2025, 26% of people charged with petit larceny received tickets. That means 74% were jailed and held for arraignment before a judge this year compared to 45% in 2021, records show.

A 2024 academic report found the NYPD gave an “unexpectedly low” number of tickets for low-level offenses, one of the lowest rates in the state.

The practice of holding more people in jail comes as the number of arrests for petty theft has doubled in recent years. In 2024, 27,000 people were charged with petit larceny compared to 13,000 in 2021.

Defense lawyers said jailing someone for minor offenses is unnecessary and defies the intent of the 2019 law.

“The legislative intent was to decarcerate as much as possible, including at the arrest level on low-level crimes," said Linda Hoff,  managing director of the criminal practice at Brooklyn Defender Services.

Hoff said the law allows police to ask for other ways to get a person’s information, such as their name, address, and phone number.

“[The] NYPD can make a decision. It's discretionary to issue the desk appearance ticket under those circumstances," Hoff said.