NEW YORK (AP) – A New York City man died during an arrest – partially captured on amateur video – during which a plain-clothes police officer placed him in what appeared be a choke hold while several others brought him to the ground and struggled to place him in handcuffs.
Internal affairs investigators and prosecutors announced inquiries Friday into the death of Eric Garner, who died the evening before outside a Staten Island beauty salon. Garner, 43, had a heart attack as he struggled with officers trying to arrest him on suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes, police said. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
Partial video of the confrontation obtained by the New York Daily News shows an officer placing what appears to be a choke hold on the 6-foot-3, 350-pound Garner, who can be heard complaining repeatedly that he can’t breathe as at least four other officers bring him down. He then apparently loses consciousness.
The video shows the officer who apparently choked Garner using his hands to push Garner’s face into the sidewalk.
“It was very troubling,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference Friday, promising a thorough investigation. “I watched it the same way a family member would watch it, and it was very sad to watch.”