AP source: NYPD taser Lt. dead of apparent suicide

By COLLEEN LONG – 38 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York Police Department official says a lieutenant is dead of an apparent suicide, days after he ordered another officer to fire a stun gun at a naked, distraught man who then fell to his death.

The police official says the lieutenant was found in Brooklyn early Thursday, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. It wasn't clear when he died.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the family had not yet been notified.

The lieutenant had ordered another officer to shock Inman Morales during a confrontation with police in Brooklyn on Sept. 24, even though the disturbed man had climbed out his third floor window onto a ledge. Morales fell to his death.

The lieutenant was stripped of his gun and badge after the incident.

Sources: NYPD Lt. In Taser Death Commits Suicide

Police: Lt. Michael Pigot Shot Himself At Floyd Bennet Field Thursday Morning

NEW YORK (CBS) ? Sources tell CBS 2 HD News the NYPD lieutenant who authorized the use of a taser stun gun on a naked Brooklyn psychiatric patient committed suicide at Floyd Bennett Field early Thursday morning.

According to police, Lt. Michael Pigot shot himself at Floyd Bennet Field early Thursday morning.

Last week, a cop tasered a naked, distraught man standing on a second floor ledge in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Inman Morales, 35, jumped up and down on top of a 10-foot high roll-down gate as he swung a florescent light bulb towards police officers who were trying to grab him on a nearby fire escape.

An officer on the ground then raised his Taser stun gun and fired a five-second jolt from the 50,000 volt gun, immobilizing him. Morales then fell head-first to his death.

"He wasn't hurting anybody, witness Racquel McDonald said. "They could have just grabbed him and bring him down, but they Tased him instead and he fell to his death and it was real wrong."

Officers had radioed for an inflatable bag as the incident unfolded, but it had not yet arrived at the scene when Morales fell.

"He was there cracking jokes, posing for the cops and everything. The man wasn't a threat to nobody but himself," said witness Kirk Giddings. They had about eight cops that could break the fall. They just moved back."

"We expect the police to say we were wrong. We made a mistake," City Councilman Al Vann, D-Brooklyn, said.

The NYPD has admitted violating guidelines in the use of the stun gun and punished two officers involved in the incident, but it's no consolation for the victim's grieving mother, Olga Negron.

Morales's mother was standing just a few yards away when her son fell. According to other family members, she called police because her son had a chemical imbalance and she believed he was suffering from a bad reaction to medication.

"The mother was screaming, 'He's gonna fall, he's gonna fall!' And they said 'Ma'am step back.' They wouldn't allow the mother to talk to him," said witness Charlene Gayle-Gordon.

The officers have been taken off the street and reassigned, but Morales' loved ones say police took much more away from them.

"My brother, I'll never get him back. Nothing can replace my brother," said Danny Morales, Inman's brother.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/taser.death.nypd.2.830784.html

NYPD Lieutenant Commits Suicide At Floyd Bennett Field

October 2, 2008 The NYPD Lieutenant who authorized the deadly use of a stun gun on a 'mentally disturbed person' in Brooklyn last week - has committed suicide.

Lt. Michael Pigot killed himself this morning at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Last week, a cop tasered a naked, distraught man standing on a second floor ledge in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Iman Morales, 35, jumped up and down on top of a 10-foot high roll-down gate as he swung a florescent light bulb towards police officers who were trying to grab him on a nearby fire escape.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Morales became unhinged after his medication was changed, relatives said, and he clambered onto his fire escape, naked and raving.

The NYPD quickly admitted that Emergency Service police should not have used a Taser on him while he was on a ledge, and two cops were disciplined.

On Wednesday, the Lieutenant had said he was "truly sorry for what happened" to Iman Morales, who was stunned with the Taser as he teetered on a building's ledge. The 50,000-volt shock caused him to topple 10 feet, headfirst, into a sidewalk. He died a shortly after from fatal injuries.

(Dov Gordon - YWN / CBS2 / WNBC)

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/24184/NYPD+Lieutenant+Commits+Suicide+At+ Floyd+Bennett+Field+.html Received on Thu Oct 2 14:41:29 2008