Grand jury clears cop in death of prisoner

555 A grand jury on Friday declined to indict Mark Weekes, one of the police officers who ignored New York City resident Andrew Kearse's pleas for help before he died in police custody May 11, 2017. Kearse, a 36-year-old father of nine, had been arrested for fleeing officers in Schenectady, New York. Kearse, who reportedly ran a red light that afternoon, panicked when patrol officers tried to pull him over during a cigarette run after traveling upstate to visit a friend. Just weeks before his death, the South Bronx native had been released from prison after serving a two-year sentence and he feared being sent back, according to his widow, Angelique Negroni-Kearse. Weekes was removed from active duty in mid-July during the investigation into Kearse's death; that same month, Negroni-Kearse and her attorney filed a civil lawsuit against the Schenectady Police Department. She viewed the video of her husband's death for the first time in January. The video shows Kearse being placed in the back of a police car after a brief foot pursuit through a residential neighborhood. Kearse is visibly winded as he sits there handcuffed, gasping for air and asking the officers to open a window. Weekes later told investigators he declined to do so for security reasons. Kearse requested help 29 times during the drive to the police station, saying he "could not breathe, felt nauseous and dizzy and was going numb" and repeatedly asking to roll the windows down, according to a report from the New York attorney general's office. Moments before Weekes arrived at the station, Kearse "fell onto his side in the backseat and did not speak again." Upon arrival, Weekes asked fellow Officer Ross Flood for help moving Kearse from the vehicle.

from Liveleak.com Rss Feed - Featured https://ift.tt/2OSfAQv