Complaint #201407332,
July 13, 2014

Officer: Coll, James
Complainant: Black Male, 45
Allegation: Force: Nonlethal restraining device
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Mcgee, Robert
Complainant: Black Male, 45
Allegation: Force: Nonlethal restraining device
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Gandolfi, Michael
Complainant: Black Male, 45
Allegation: Force: Physical force
CCRB Conclusion: Exonerated
Officer: Gallagher, James
Complainant: Black Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to obtain medical treatment
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer: Cameron, Steven
Complainant: Black Male, 45
Allegation: Abuse of Authority: Refusal to obtain medical treatment
CCRB Conclusion: Unsubstantiated
Officer Complainant Allegation CCRB Conclusion
Coll, James Black Male, 45 Force: Nonlethal restraining device Exonerated
Mcgee, Robert Black Male, 45 Force: Nonlethal restraining device Exonerated
Gandolfi, Michael Black Male, 45 Force: Physical force Exonerated
Gallagher, James Black Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to obtain medical treatment Unsubstantiated
Cameron, Steven Black Male, 45 Abuse of Authority: Refusal to obtain medical treatment Unsubstantiated

Conclusion Meanings:

'Exonerated': or 'Within NYPD Guidelines' - The conduct occurred but did not violate the NYPD's own rules, which often give officers significant discretion.
'Unsubstantiated': or 'Unable to Determine' - The alleged conduct was investigated but could not determine both that the conduct occurred and that it broke the rules.

Further details on conclusions.


Summary

On July 13, 2014, at approximately 1:01 a.m., at East 51st Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, [redacted] a taxi driver, flagged down a police officer, PO Darian Shannon of the 18th Precinct, for help with a passenger behaving erratically, [redacted] PO Shannon requested additional officers via radio. Numerous officers of the 18th Precinct, including Lt. Michael Gandolfi, PO James Smith, PO William Walsh, Sgt. Steven Cameron, PO James Gallagher, PO Timothy Tierney, and PO Robert Holzapfel, responded.
Lt. Michael Gandolfi grabbed [redacted] brought him onto the ground (Allegation A). Lt. Gandolfi requested that ESU respond. Upon arrival, Det. James Coll and Det. Robert McGee of ESU placed [redacted] into a mesh restraint bag (Allegations B and C). EMS was requested to the scene and multiple EMS units responded, including [redacted] EMTS [redacted] and [redacted] FDNY EMTS [redacted] and FDNY Lt. [redacted] DTS Coll and DTS McGee placed [redacted] on his left side on the stretcher, but as he was brought to the ambulance, [redacted] rolled onto his face. EMT [redacted] requested that Sgt. Cameron rotate [redacted] on the stretcher. Sgt. Cameron responded, "He needs to go to Bellevue," and did not rotate [redacted] as requested (Allegation D). EMT [redacted] then called Lt. [redacted]'s attention. Lt. [redacted] asked another officer standing outside the ambulance, identified by the investigation as PO James Gallagher, to rotate [redacted] onto his back. PO Gallagher did not respond and did not turn [redacted] over (Allegation E). Lt. [redacted] then approached DTS Coll and DTS McGee, who complied with her request. DTS Coll did not prepare a memo book entry about this incident (Allegation F).
[redacted] was transported to [redacted] where he was pronounced dead on arrival (BR 55). Read report for details.


Details

Incident: July 13, 2014
Received: July 20, 2014
Closed: July 13, 2016

Reason for contact: EDP aided case
Location: Street/highway
In NYPD Midtown North Precinct Manhattan
Outcome: No arrest made or summons issued

Witness Officers: Robert Holzapfel, Samuel Panuccio, Darian Shannon, James Smith, Timothy Tierney, William Walsh
Video evidence collected