Sergeant in NYPD chokehold death faces departmental charges

An NYPD sergeant was served with disciplinary charges and stripped of her badge and gun in relation to her role in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, the police department said in a statement.

Adonis had been on her way to a meeting when the call came over the radio, and she made a decision to check it out, Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said in an afternoon press conference.

Adonis had been promoted to sergeant roughly two weeks before the Garner’s death and was one of the supervising officers during the incident, which was caught on video. But police said the decision to bring departmental charges against Adonis was prompted by a disciplinary statute of limitations that applied to her case but not Pantaleo’s. Friday is the last day her probation could be extended, so she had to be placed on modified duty.

Adonis – a 14-year veteran with an otherwise unblemished record – stood by silently at union headquarters as Mullins ripped into the commissioner, charging that Bratton was scapegoating a good cop even though a grand jury ruled there was no criminal wrongdoing by the officers.

Garner, who was 43, was stopped in July of 2014 outside a Staten Island convenience store because police officers believed he was selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

“Mr. Garner’s death was the direct result of his failure to comply with lawful orders from the police and his own serious health issues”, Mullins said.

The Justice Department is conducting a probe to determine if Officer Pantaleo violated Mr. Garner’s civil rights. The medical examiner found the chokehold contributed to his death.

No one else in the case has yet to face departmental charges, and the internal disciplinary review is on hold pending a federal inquiry. The chokehold is banned under NYPD policy; Pantaleo has said he was using a legal takedown maneuver called the seatbelt.

Garner’s death, along with the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, spurred national outcry and protests about police treatment of black men. For officers not now under criminal investigation, the department has 18 months to file internal charges.