Officer says he inflated charge against chokehold victim
Source: AP
NEW YORK — After Eric Garner died following a confrontation with New York City police five years ago, one officer involved in the struggle wrote up paperwork that exaggerated the seriousness of the dead man's suspected crime, according to testimony Tuesday.
Officer Justin Damico testified that after riding in an ambulance with the dying Garner, he went ahead on his own and filled out arrest papers listing a felony tax charge that would've required prosecutors to prove Garner, a small-time street hustler, had sold 10,000 untaxed cigarettes.
Damico spoke at the police department disciplinary trial for Daniel Pantaleo, the officer accused of placing Garner in a banned chokehold as they attempted to arrest him for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes near a Staten Island park in July 2014.
"You initiated this on your own, writing up the arrest of a dead man?" asked Suzanne O'Hare, a lawyer for the police watchdog agency bringing the disciplinary case.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/officer-says-he-inflated-charge-against-chokehold-victim/ar-AABGU7M?li=BBnb7Kz
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