NYPD investigates two cops in Taser death of naked man

NYPD investigates two officers in Taser death of naked Brooklyn man
THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS BY ALISON GENDAR AND CORKY SIEMASZKO - September 25th 2008

Two NYPD officers are under investigation in the death of a disturbed Brooklyn man who toppled from a ledge after he was shot with a Taser stun gun. The incident appeared to have violated department guidelines, Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said. The lieutenant who ordered the fatal zapping of Inman Morales was stripped of his gun, shield and placed on desk duty Thursday. The police officer who actually fired the Taser was also put on desk duty but kept his gun and badge. Both officers will be interviewed by the Brooklyn District Attorney, a regular part of any police-related shooting or death. Naked and perched on a ledge outside his Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment, Morales was wielding a flourescent light bulb like a Star Wars light sabre when cops confronted him on Wednesday afternoon. "As an ESU officer was in the process of securing himself on the second-floor fire escape, Morales jabbed at him," Browne said. Instead of waiting for backup to arrive with an airbag that would have broken his fall, "an ESU lieutenant directed another ESU officer on the sidewalk to employ a Conducted Energy Device (CED), commonly known as a Taser, against Morales, who fell to the sidewalk, striking his head," Browne said. Browne said police regulations "specifically state that 'when possible, the CED should not be used … in situations where the subject may fall from an elevated surface.'" Morales, 35, fell 10 feet and landed headfirst on the pavement. He was declared dead at Kings County Hospital. "It just wasn't a smart move. When you Taser someone, they drop like a stone. No muscle control. Under regular circumstances, the (suspect) could have jumped himself and been OK," a police source said. Neighbors said Morales' mother called the cops after her son "freaked out" earlier in the day. When they arrived at his door, he refused to let them in and then crawled naked on to the fire escape and tried to force his way into a neighbor's apartment. When that failed, Morales crawled down the fire escape while screaming "You're gonna kill me!" Finally, Morales stepped onto a 2-foot wide metal top of a rolldown security gate and ripped an 8-foot-long light bulb from the business' sign. When Morales started swinging it at the officers, he was stunned by a 5,000 volt charge of electricity. "He froze and pitched forward," witness Ernestine Croom said. "They didn't put out a mattress or net or anything."