Relatives and friends of the 87-year-old man killed by a marked NYPD vehicle while taking his morning stroll in Brooklyn last Friday have trouble believing the department's claim that there was no criminality involved in the accident. Theauther Love was a WW II veteran and Baptist minister, and started to cross Eastern Parkway around 7 a.m. when he was struck and killed by the patrol car. "He walked every day and I just know he knew what he was doing," Love's pastor Reverend John Quincy Adams told NY1. "I know there is something more to this story and it just hurts my heart that he had to die like this."
Police officials have said that while the investigation is still pending, "there was no indication of criminality" at the scene. Love was pronounced dead on arrival at Brookdale Hospital. His son, Andrew, has also questioned the thoroughness of the report: "I know that traffic cop had to be speeding. That car wasn't going very slow. It went so fast it killed him instantly."
Parishioners of New Frontier Baptist Church spoke highly of Love at yesterday's services, and one described him as "Kind, loyal, and an excellent husband, good father, outstanding minister." Reverend Adams noted that Love could "sing the low songs that would lift the spirit of the people." He added, "I want them to investigate and find out if the traffic cop was wrong. And if they find out that he is wrong, then he should be punished."
