NEW YORK (AP) — After Eric Garner's death following a confrontation with New York City police five years ago, one officer involved in the struggle wrote up paperwork that exaggerated the seriousness of the dead man's suspected crime, that officer testified Tuesday.
Officer Justin Damico said that after riding in an ambulance with the dying Garner, he filled out arrest papers listing a felony tax charge that would have required prosecutors to prove Garner, a small-time street hustler, had sold 10,000 untaxed cigarettes.
Damico acknowledged that the felony charge was incorrect because Garner actually had with him five packs of Newports that contained a total of less than 100 cigarettes. The cigarettes were marked for sale in Virginia, a sign they were being resold illegally in New York. Speaking for more than an hour in a nearly full hearing room at police headquarters, Damico recounted how he'd given an agitated Garner a warning two weeks earlier, instead of arresting him, for selling loose cigarettes because he felt that approach was"the right thing to do."
Damico testified he saw Pantaleo's arm around Garner's neck as the two men struggled — but he didn't say if he thought the move was a chokehold. Damico, who hasn't faced disciplinary action, testified that he and Pantaleo didn't rush to arrest Garner because they were"trying to avoid a physical fight." They stayed calm as Garner screamed for around 10 minutes about feeling targeted by police and swatted Damico's hands away while refusing to be arrested, Damico said.
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