Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Family of Tasered Victim Furious that Officer is Promoted

The family of a mentally disturbed man who died after being Tasered is furious that the NYPD cop who zapped him has been promoted.

"They should tell us about this," said Olga Negron, whose son, Iman Morales, fell 10 feet to his death after being Tasered Sept. 24. Morales was on a ledge and cops werre setting up an airbag when he fell.

Emergency Services Unit Lt. Michael Pigott, who ordered Police Officer Nicholas Marchesona to fire the electroshock gun at Morales, committed suicide days later.

Marchesona was promoted to detective five weeks later, NYPD officials confirmed. His promotion was scheduled before Morales' death, an NYPD spokesman said Monday.

Morales' family members called for the Brooklyn district attorney to bring criminal charges against Marchesona, and said the NYPD should fire the officer, not reward him.

Morales' brother, Jesse, said the move compounds the family's grief.

NYPD and city officials called Morales' death a tragedy, which only deepened when Pigott killed himself at ESU headquarters Oct.2.

Pigott left behind a suicide note saying he shot himself to spare his three children from seeing him in handcuffs or behind bars, police sources said.

Pigott's note also asked Marchesona not be punished for following a superior's order.

Morales' death was ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner's office.

A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney said the office accepted the NYPD's assessment that the incident was a tragic accident with no criminality.

Morales was struck with a Taser as he balanced on an awning ledge and, naked and raving, flailed at cops with a fluorescent light bulb.

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