Results tagged “taser”

A 43-year-old man died yesterday after Long Island cops shot him twice with a Taser. Officers used the weapon on Darryl Bain, 43, after he locked himself and his 78-year-old mother — who had a restraining order against him — in her Coram home.

Hey, whaddaya know—shooting 5,000 volts of electricity at somebody's chest could adversely affect the heart! Manufacturer Taser International Inc. has issued a warning about Taser chest-shots, suggesting that law enforcement officers aim their Tasers at perpetrators' backs, arms, or abdomens. In response to the warning, the NYPD brass has formally ordered officers not to shoot Tasers at suspects' chests.

Michael Pigott, the NYPD lieutenant who gave the order to fire a Taser that resulted in the death of an emotionally disturbed man, took responsibility for his actions - to the very end.

The criminals hold the tasers now! Watch out would-be targets, if last year the machete was the weapon of choice, one mugger in Brooklyn may be unintentionally spearheading a taser trend. The Brooklyn Paper notes that on October 2nd "a stun-gun-toting purse snatcher shocked a victim on Bayard Street [at Graham Avenue] before running off. The woman was walking home from a bar at around 3 a.m." The robber ran off with her purse, cash and cell phone after she collapsed to the ground. Serious buzz kill.

The widow of NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself a week after issuing a fatal command to Taser a mentally disturbed man, is suing the city. Her lawyers are arguing that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and NYPD spokesman Paul Browne contributed to his suicide by making him a scapegoat for the Sept. 24, 2008 incident, in which a naked bipolar man fell one story to his death after being Tasered. Court papers obtained by the Post argue that public comments made by the NYPD's top brass "caused Michael Pigott to become humiliated, distraught, depressed, and caused him to commit suicide."

Yesterday's shooting by NYPD officers of a woman who was repeatedly stabbing a cop with a 12-inch knife could have been prevented if a Taser could have been used at the scene of the incident. But the dangerous conditions of the woman's Canarsie apartment that police entered into wouldn't allow it.

The police officer who was ordered to Taser an emotionally disturbed man—who then fell to his death—was promoted to detective just weeks after the fatal incident, the Daily News reports. Nicholas Marchesona was told to fire the stun gun at Iman Morales, perched above a storefront, last September, even though there nothing to break Morales' fall. Marchesona's superior, Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who gave him the order, committed suicide days later, apparently racked with guilt over Morales' death. The News adds that Pigott's suicide note said Marchesona shouldn't be blamed, but Morales' family is upset about the promotion—they believe he should be fired and face criminal charges.

Police in the Bronx waited out a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend as he stood on a window ledge for over 13 hours in his briefs starting at 3:30 a.m. this morning. Police believe that Rodulfo Jones stabbed girlfriend Carmen Valez inside her University Avenue apartment in Kingsbridge before climbing onto the 4th floor ledge when they arrived. Valez is currently in critical condition. Jones's standoff attracted the attention of over 200 onlookers and prompted police to set up airbags below before eventually talking him down. A witness says police were nothing but calm in dealing with the suspect, perhaps being extra cautious in the wake of September's Taser tragedy.

Yesterday, the funeral for NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself a week after issuing a command that led to a man's death by Taser, was held in Islip, Long Island. Hundreds of police officers were on hand to remember the 21-year veteran of the force, who left behind his wife and three children. Rev. Douglas Madlon revealed during the service that Pigott, stripped of his badge and gun, was afraid he wouldn't be a police officer and had said to him, "I'm not a desk person." One fellow cop told Newsday, "It's a horrible, horrible thing. He was a great man. He was a cop's cop." And while there was bitterness from some police officers and even Pigott's own father towards the NYPD, Police Commission Ray Kelly attended the wake over the weekend but not the funeral "out of sensitivity to the family."

Hundreds of officers from the NYPD and elsewhere came out to pay their respects to Lieutenant Michael Pigott yesterday at the first day of his wake in Islip. Pigott died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a week after being embroiled in a media frenzy following the Taser-induced death of an emotionally disturbed man. Friends and family paid tribute to Pigott yesterday with one lifelong friend telling Newsday, "He was a gentle-hearted person, big heart, generous, friendly, sweet. Everyone loved him." There were also definite feelings of bitterness in the air due to the circumstances surrounding Pigott's death. Some colleagues were upset at Commissioner Ray Kelly's denial of an antique truck from Piggott's unit to be used during his funeral. And one guest lashed out at reporters saying, “You people are half of what caused this, O.K.? The media and the pressure you put on this man that did nothing wrong, you are responsible.”

The wake for NYPD Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself on Thursday, is being held in Islip, Long Island today and tomorrow, with funeral service on Monday. Pigott shot himself in the head at Emergency Service Unit headquarters, apparently racked with guilt and worry after his command led to the fatal Tasering of emotionally disturbed man, Iman Morales, in Brooklyn on September 24.

NYPD Emergency Services Unit Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who killed himself yesterday morning, left behind a suicide note noting his remorse and concern over his family. A police source told the Post, "He didn't want his family to see him cuffed up and jailed. The guy felt he disgraced his family."

Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who ordered the fatal Tasering of an emotionally disturbed person, killed himself this morning. WABC 7 reports "Pigott reported to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where he took his life shortly after 6 a.m." and another officer "sustained a non-life threatening injury during the incident." Pigott had been stripped of his gun and badge after the Tasering, where Iman Morales fell to his death, and yesterday, the 21-year police force veteran had said he was "truly sorry for what happened." The Daily News suggests that Pigott, who turned 46 today, went to Floyd Bennett Field--where the Emergency Services Unit in headquartered--because there are weapons there.

The family of the disturbed man who fell to his death after being Tasered by police will likely sue the city, surprising no one. Famous civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby is now representing relatives of Iman Morales, whose funeral service was held yesterday in Greenwich Village. Kuby tells the Daily News, "The first thing the family is focused on is burying their son. But the city has already acknowledged what any idiot on Earth could see - that they [the cops] acted irresponsibly and wrongfully and caused a man's death."

Funeral services will be held Thursday for the disturbed man who fell to his death last week after being Tasered by police. The NYPD's entire Emergency Service Unit was retrained today on proper Taser procedures, although police Commissioner Ray Kelly says the man's death was a mistake in judgment, not a product of poor training. He tells Newsday, "We think the training they receive is sound. We're human beings. Sometimes we make mistakes. Reporters make mistakes. People on Wall Street make mistakes." The lieutenant who ordered the Taser shot, Michael Pigott, has been stripped of his badge and gun, and according to the Post, he gave the order when the man, Inman Morales, began poking at another officer with a florescent light bulb. The officer, who was standing on the fire escape, "wasn't tied in [securely]" and was in danger, the unidentified source claims.

After an emotionally disturbed man fell to his death after being Tasered by the police, the NYPD's entire Emergency Service Unit will "undergo retraining" on using the stun gun. The NYPD admitted the fatal incident seemed to violate department rules, since the police didn't try to break the fall of Inman Morales who was on a building ledge (ESU did call for an airbag, but it hadn't arrived yet). A new commanding officer--Deputy Chief James Molloy--is taking over ESU (a deputy inspector had been the acting head). Additionally, the NYPD may create a database so they'll know if they've responded to a previous incident with an emotional disturbed person at that address; each day, the police respond to almost 200 EDP calls.

Olga Negron, who called 911 over concerns about his 35-year-old son Inman Morales's behavior only for him to fall to his death after being Tasered by the police, spoke out against the police yesterday. She said, "They could have done something better to protect my son. He didn't have a gun, a knife or any weapon. He was just sick. I want them to be held accountable. I want justice."

The police released a statement saying that the Tasering of a Brooklyn man who then fatally fell from a ledge seemed to have broken NYPD guidelines. Chief department spokesman Paul J. Browne said an airbag had been called to catch the victim, Inman Morales, but the lieutenant who issued the order for another officer to stun the man did not wait.

A naked man standing on a fire escape and, later, a storefont, fell to his death after a police officer stunned him with a Taser. Based on video (below) and witness reports, Iman Morales, 35, was wielding a fluorescent light bulbs at cops who tried to get close.

Just as the NYPD announced that it would distribute more Tasers as a non-lethal alternative to firearms, a Brooklyn man was killed by a Long Island police officer when he was Tasered. Suffolk County police said that the 26-year-old Tony Bradway died after being shocked twice by an officer's Taser, as the deceased was attempting to swallow a bag of cocaine.

The RAND Corporation issued the findings of a report that commissioned by the NYPD in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting. Among the recommendations were that the NYPD should incorporate more realistic scenarios into its firearm training and increase the number of non-lethal weapons carried by personnel on the street.