The family of a mentally ill man who fell to his death after being tasered by cops took to the streets last Monday demanding that the NYPD sergeant who “shot” Iman Morales be fired and face criminal charges.
Leading 80 protestors in front of the Kings County District Attorney’s office at 350 Jay Street, Olga Negron, Iman Morales’ mother also demanded that the NYPD institute new strategies in handling mentally ill residents.
Morales died last September after the massive jolt from the taser caused him to lose his balance and fall off of a security gate above a Tompkins Avenue storefront.
Horrified witness — some of whom caught the tragedy on video — said that Morales toppled head first to the ground ten feet below.
No protective padding had been placed on the ground to cushion his fall, officials said.
“He was a good son, he didn’t deserve this,” Negron said as she and demanded justice for Morales and Hilton Vega, who protestors said the police shot in the back. “This shouldn’t happen to anyone else. All he needed was a little help, which the NYPD didn’t give him.”
Cops were called to Tompkins Avenue after Morales began causing a scene.
When cops arrived, Morales, who was naked, had climbed atop the security gate.
Officials said that cops tried to bring the disturbed man down calmly, but Morales began poking at the officers approaching him with a long florescent bulb.
His death caused a firestorm of criticism on how the NYPD handles emotionally disturbed residents.
No criminal charges were ever filed against the officers involved.
A spokesperson from the Kings County District Attorney’s office said that they “accepted the police investigation into [Morales’ death] which determined that there was no criminality.”
Yet the weight of the guilt and criticism ended up to be too much for NYPD Emergency Services Unit Lieutenant Michael Pigott, who ordered that Imam be tasered. Pigott took his own life a few weeks later in Floyd Bennett Field, officials said.
Family members told reporters that they were outraged when they learned Police Officer Nicholas Marchesona, who fired the taser gun, had been promoted to sergeant.
NYPD officials said that the promotion was in the works before the fatal confrontation with Morales.
Protestors demanded Marchesona be stripped of his stripes and face charges of reckless manslaughter in Morales’ death.
They are also demanding that the city begin creating crisis intervention teams to handle emotionally disturbed residents in times of trouble.
These teams shouldn’t have armed police officers, but rather “trained medical professionals and community members who have experience dealing with mental illness.”
A “permanent independent prosecutor for all cases involving police violence” was also demanded.
Some of their demands have merit, believes State Senator Eric Adams, who made similar demands following Morales’ death.
Adams said that the NYPD have already made some changes.
“The NYPD did recently institute a change on the notification system through the emergency dispatcher that when a job is sent out an indicator light is put up on a 911 operator’s screen that prior calls about an emotionally disturbed person had been made at that address,” said Adams. “That information is automatically relayed to the cop dispatched to the scene, so they know what they’re facing and that an ambulance is sent to the scene.”
Adams said that he still believes that a specially trained crisis intervention team be created as other cities have done.
“I’m hoping that they move in that direction,” said Adams, a former cop. “Times have changed and we have to change with the times.”
