Sep 26, 2008 10:46 am US/Eastern
Mother Of Man Killed In Taser Incident Cries Out
Officers Penalized For Violating Department Guidelines
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A NYPD officer fired a five second jolt of 50,000 volts of electricity from his taser gun, immobilizing Inman Morales.
CBS
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Inman Morales grimaces in pain after being shot with a stun gun in Brooklyn. The mentally disturbed man fell to his death moments later.
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A witness captured this image of Inman Morales falling to his death after being shot with a stun gun by police.
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Police look on as Inman Morales falls from a fire escape to his death after he was shot with a stun gun.
CBS
The mother of the man who fell to his death after being shot with a Taser gun by police in Brooklyn is speaking out, lashing back at police after the department admitted officers acted inappropriately.
The last moments of 35-year-old Inman Morales's life were spent naked and perched on a ledge outside his Bedford-Stuvyesant apartment window. Dozens of people watched, while some took photographs as Morales, who was emotionally disturbed, jumped up and down on top of a 10-foot high roll-down gate as he swung a florescent light bulb towards police officers who were trying to grab him on a nearby fire escape.
An officer on the ground then raised his Taser stun gun and fired a five-second jolt from the 50,000 volt gun, immobilizing him. Morales then fell head-first to his death.
The NYPD has admitted violating guidelines in the use of the stun gun and punished two officers involved in the incident, but it's no consolation for the victim's grieving mother, Olga Negron.
"He was a great son. All he needed was a little help and a little time," Negron told CBS 2.
But a devastated Negron said police did not give her son any help or time before they shocked him with the stun gun.
"He would not hurt nobody, he was good. He didn't have no weapons, nothing," she cried. "Oh God, please don't let this happen to other children. We have to protect our kids!"
Negron said she called police to help her control her son, who was on a new medication for his chemical imbalance. She begged police to let her speak to him.
"They [wouldn't] let me, they said no," she said.
Witnesses told CBS 2 the same thing the night of the incident.
"The mother was screaming, 'He's gonna fall, he's gonna fall!' And they said 'Ma'am step back.' They wouldn't allow the mother to talk to him," said Charlene Gayle-Gordon, who watched in horror.
Community leaders and Morales' neighbors held a candlelight vigil Thursday night on the sidewalk where he died. They even included prayers for the officers involved.
Police say the Emergency Services lieutenant and the officer who fired the Taser violated a guideline that prohibits shooting a Taser at a subject who may fall from an elevated surface.
The officers have been taken off the street and reassigned, but Morales' loved ones say police took much more away from them.
"My brother, I'll never get him back. Nothing can replace my brother," said Danny Morales, Inman's brother.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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