dv8 Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 04:33AM
Police fired a Taser at a naked Brooklyn man armed with only a fluorescent
light tube yesterday, sending him falling to his death from a
second-floor ledge after he went on a 40-minute rant.
Iman Morales' mom begged cops not to hurt her son, telling them he's sick - then
watched in horror as he plunged from the top of the roll-down gate on which he'd
been perched.
An Emergency Services officer, acting on the orders of his boss, fired at the
35-year-old man at around 2 p.m., as he waved the 8-foot fluorescent light tube,
police sources said.
"His body froze up and he fell face-first," said Sean Johnson, who
witnessed the drama at 489 Tompkins Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Morales, who crashed 10 feet to the pavement, died a few hours later at Kings
County Hospital.
Asked if police followed the proper protocol for using a Taser, NYPD spokesman
Paul Browne said, "That's being reviewed."
A New York Police Department lieutenant was stripped of his gun and badge, and
the officer who used the stun gun on the man was placed on administrative duty
Thursday, officials said.
Amid his mostly unintelligible rant, Morales was heard yelling, "You're
going to kill me. I'm going to take everyone with me."
He also screamed, "I'm going to die. You're all going to die with me."
Morales first emerged hanging out a third-floor window after a blowup with his
mother at around 1 p.m., witnesses said.
Twenty minutes later, he climbed the fire escape to the fourth floor, where he
tried to force his way into a neighbor's apartment.
"He tried to come into my window and I ran out," said 40-year-old
Tonya Wright.
"He said, 'Let me in.' I told him, 'I'm not letting you in.' "
Morales then headed to the second floor and screamed to the crowd, which
included his frantic mom.
"She was saying, 'No! No! Don't hurt him. He is sick,' " Wright said.
With police shouting for him to get down, Morales made his way to a ledge above
a the gate.
"Walk down now! Move down!" the police can be heard shouting to him on
video.
He then picked up the light tube and waved it in the air before jabbing cops who
had climbed out of the windows above.
"When he was poking the cop, people were laughing," Johnson said.
He refused orders from the officers and continued his incoherent tirade.
Finally, one of the ESU cops on the street shot him with the Taser.
"He just fell face first," said witness Sean Brown. "People were
screaming and yelling. It was wrong."
It was unclear what set off the episode, but, said Johnson, "once he
started hitting the cop with that pole, that's when it turned serious."
Morales had one prior arrest, for a Manhattan petit larceny.
"This is very out of character," said the building's superintendent,
Charlene Gayle, 31.
"Nice guy, clean cut, well kept, never irrational. Didn't have irrational
behavior."
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
Josh Edmunds Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 06:52AM
He fell 10 feet from the second floor to the group?
That would make the ground and 1st floors only 5 feet high each.
Is it a smurf building?
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 04:38PM
Sad to see someone buy the farm from such a simple act of stupidity. But ...
aggressive behavior towards the cops is never a wise move espially when open
threats have already been made too, and is often met with more serious actions
in return.
Did the cops over react, possibly, dunno for sure. One thing I'm sure of is I
won't be found standin naked on a railing, spouting threats and pokin at cops
with a glass tube to gauge their reactions
zxz555 Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 07:54PM
One thing I'm sure of is I won't be found standin naked on a railing,
spouting threats and pokin at cops with a glass tube to gauge their
reactions
at least not for the 3rd Saturday night in a row, eh Kim?
I thought this guy 
was giving the thumbs up, turns out
it's the finger! 
Mrkim Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 08:13PM
Hey, that was supposed to be a secret Z. But ... tell your G/F I'm willin to
try it again if she's gotten over the soreness
N10 Report This Comment Date: September 26, 2008 11:46PM
Whatever happened to police saving lives????. This guy certainly had his
problems and not in his right mind. But why would a cop feel his life was in
danger because of a light blub???? They need to come up with a better excuse
than that. Makes them look stupid, almost as stupid as shooting a citizen 40
times because he pulled a WALLET.
N10 Report This Comment Date: September 30, 2008 12:51AM
You mean to tell me YOU did not know about the shooting by the NYPD about 5
years ago,where they shot a man 40 times and all he had on him was his wallet.
Hell they found bullet holes on the bottom of his feet. Do you live in the
USA???. It was on the news for months,and the written investagation was released
about a year ago. The police involved in the shooting were cleared of any wrong
doing. But NY City lost the civil case big time.
