Police Lt. in Brooklyn Taser case commits suicide.

[CraKaJaX]

The original news link was posted here in case you missed it.

Police Lieutenant in Taser Case Commits Suicide

By Christine Hauser

Updated, 10:05 a.m. | A New York City police lieutenant who gave the order to fire a Taser stun gun at a man who then fell to his death in Brooklyn committed suicide at Floyd Bennett Field early on Thursday, law enforcement officials said. The lieutenant, Michael W. Pigott, a 21-year veteran of the force, had been placed on modified assignment without his gun and badge after he gave the order to a sergeant to fire the Taser at a Bedford-Stuyvesant man, Iman Morales.


Mr. Morales, naked and with apparent signs of emotional disturbance, fell to his death from a building ledge after an officer shot him with the Taser, at the instruction of Lieutenant Pigott. Mr. Morales had been yelling at passers-by and swinging a long light bulb tube at officers before he fell.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement:

Upon behalf of all of the members of the New York City Police Department, I extend deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lt. Michael W. Pigott who served with dedication for 21 years.

In the aftermath of Mr. Morales?s death, the department announced that the use of the Taser appeared to have violated departmental rules, and a new commander of the Emergency Service Unit was named. Mr. Kelly also emphasized the need for additional training.

Asked about the development on Thursday morning, the chief spokesman for the police department, Paul J. Browne, said only: ?A New York City police lieutenant was killed this morning apparently as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The identification is being withheld pending family notification.?

Later, Mr. Kelly issued a statement acknowledging that the lieutenant was in fact Lieutenant Pigott, and Mr. Browne provided details about what happened early this morning.

He said that Lieutenant Pigott went to Floyd Bennett Field alone, early in the morning, and entered a locker room, where he gained access to a weapon that was not his: a 9-millimeter Glock. Then, he shot himself in the head, Mr. Browne said. His body was discovered in the locker room by a service member who was coming on duty at about 6 a.m.

Following the death of Mr. Morales, Lieutenant Pigott had been on desk duty with Fleet Services, which handles the Police Department?s vehicles.

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Sometimes I just wonder. 😕

BTW, searched and nothing came up. Back off!

 

[waggy]

shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: waggy
shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

I think the problem was he couldn't deal with the punishment his mind was already inflicting on him...

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: MrPickins

Originally posted by: waggy
shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

I think the problem was he couldn't deal with the punishment his mind was already inflicting on him...

very possibly right. wich would aslo explain him ignoring the rules and ordering the officer to taser the guy on a ledge.

I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

 

[Spoooon]

Suicide is a selfish dumb move for the most part.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: MrPickins

Originally posted by: waggy
shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

I think the problem was he couldn't deal with the punishment his mind was already inflicting on him...

very possibly right. wich would aslo explain him ignoring the rules and ordering the officer to taser the guy on a ledge.

I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

I agree. I feel terrible for his family, but I don't feel bad for him at all. He obviously knew he made the wrong decision, thought about it, couldn't take it, and decided to end himself. Weak. :thumbsdown: He probably wasn't expecting him to fall to his death, but christ... the guy obviously had problems. That doesn't mean go taser happy.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: waggy
I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

You can't successfully sue an officer personally when he acts in the line of duty. The city assumes the burden. Generally the only time a case like this goes forward is when the cop was either off duty or acted completely outside the scope of police authority/procedures.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: waggy
I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

You can't sue an officer personally when he acts in the line of duty.

yes you can. you can sue anyone. not saying they are going to win though.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: MrPickins

Originally posted by: waggy
shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

I think the problem was he couldn't deal with the punishment his mind was already inflicting on him...

very possibly right. wich would aslo explain him ignoring the rules and ordering the officer to taser the guy on a ledge.

I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

Wait... you're saying his guilt over tasering the guy is what caused him to taser the guy? 😕

 

[Scarpozzi]

WIN! This thread delivers!

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: MrPickins

Originally posted by: waggy
shrug.

so instead of facing the consequences of his actions he decided to kill himself? what a waste.

I think the problem was he couldn't deal with the punishment his mind was already inflicting on him...

very possibly right. wich would aslo explain him ignoring the rules and ordering the officer to taser the guy on a ledge.

I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

Wait... you're saying his guilt over tasering the guy is what caused him to taser the guy? 😕

oops was thinking he could already had mental problems before the tasering. wich could explain why he ignored the rules etc.

wonder if he had any history of any mental issues.

but either way i don't feel bad he offed himself. i feel bad for his family, the police that found him and the poor guy he killed

 

[darkxshade]

He obviously felt guilty after discovering the naked man had begged and cried for him with "don't taze me bro" and drove him to the brink of suicide. 😛

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: waggy
I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

You can't sue an officer personally when he acts in the line of duty.

yes you can. you can sue anyone. not saying they are going to win though.

Depends on what you mean by "can." You can file a law suit in a court, but qualified immunity is a bar unlikely to be met in almost every case. There are exceptions, but public policy is heavily in favor of protecting individual officers from liability.

 

[crystal]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: waggy
I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

You can't sue an officer personally when he acts in the line of duty.

yes you can. you can sue anyone. not saying they are going to win though.

Why goes for his "estate" when likely it doesn't have much. The department and the city on the other hand got deep pocket.

 

[waggy]

also i swear you could sue the police if they are negligent. wich err this fits.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: crystal

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: waggy
I really feel for his family. his "estate" is still going to get sued for killing the man and they have to deal with his suicide.

You can't sue an officer personally when he acts in the line of duty.

yes you can. you can sue anyone. not saying they are going to win though.

Why goes for his "estate" when likely it doesn't have much. The department and the city on the other hand got deep pocket.

eyah usually suits cover everyone but go after hte one with the money.

 

[Taxation]

The man was naked on a ledge with a lightbulb. In that state he was unlikely to do any real harm, other than the public disturbance that was being caused regardless of the action the officers involved took. He clearly recognized that his actions would be viewed as wrong by the community, although his intent was surely not to kill the man.

 

[wheresmybacon]

At least there's a happy ending to this story.

 

[Eli]

Heh.

Coward.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Taxation
The man was naked on a ledge with a lightbulb. In that state he was unlikely to do any real harm, other than the public disturbance that was being caused regardless of the action the officers involved took. He clearly recognized that his actions would be viewed as wrong by the community, although his intent was surely not to kill the man.

nearly everyone agrees it was the wrong thing to do. well except for those that said we "didnt understand since we don't have police training" .

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: hungfarover
At least there's a happy ending to this story.

i wouldnt call this a happy ending. 2 families are destroyed because someone couldnt fallow the rules and NONE of the other cops would do what was right.

 

[Agentbolt]

I don't get it, folks, why are some of you borderline celebrating his death? 90% of the time I have zero pity for people who commit suicide, and 99.999% of the time I have zero pity for cops, but it's entirely possible this guy has had the crushing burden of guilt for directly being responsible for another man's dying, and simply felt so guilty he decided he didn't deserve to live?

Obviously you can never know why someone committed suicide, but you can usually make an educated guess that it was for a retarded reason. In this case we can be pretty sure he had a legit reason to want to end his life. I've never caused a person's death, so I can't be sure what that must feel like, but if I ever did I think it's quite possible I'd feel so guilty that I'd decide I don't deserve to live anymore either.

Basically what I'm saying is that this cop's suicide is actually pretty sad and tragic. As much as most of us here hated him for what he did, I sincerely doubt any of us felt he deserved to die over it. Apparently he was even more disgusted with himself than we were 🙁

 

[imported_apocalypse]

Originally posted by: Taxation
The man was naked on a ledge with a lightbulb. In that state he was unlikely to do any real harm, other than the public disturbance that was being caused regardless of the action the officers involved took. He clearly recognized that his actions would be viewed as wrong by the community, although his intent was surely not to kill the man.

He should have forseen about the 10 foot fall that would invariably result from tasering the man though.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I don't get it, folks, why are some of you borderline celebrating his death? 90% of the time I have zero pity for people who commit suicide, and 99.999% of the time I have zero pity for cops, but it's entirely possible this guy has had the crushing burden of guilt for directly being responsible for another man's dying, and simply felt so guilty he decided he didn't deserve to live?

Obviously you can never know why someone committed suicide, but you can usually make an educated guess that it was for a retarded reason. In this case we can be pretty sure he had a legit reason to want to end his life. I've never caused a person's death, so I can't be sure what that must feel like, but if I ever did I think it's quite possible I'd feel so guilty that I'd decide I don't deserve to live anymore either.

Basically what I'm saying is that this cop's suicide is actually pretty sad and tragic. As much as most of us here hated him for what he did, I sincerely doubt any of us felt he deserved to die over it. Apparently he was even more disgusted with himself than we were 🙁

meh. very few are celebrating his death. most just don't care and think he is a coward. instead of facing the punishment he decided to take the easy way out.

i would have prefered he stay alive face it like a man. now all he did is rob the family of closure and punished his family (and if you believe in it damned his soul to hell).


its a very sad story. one mans decision lead to his death and a innocent mans. not to mention destroyed 2 families (havent seen if he has a wife and kids though).

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Agentbolt
I don't get it, folks, why are some of you borderline celebrating his death? 90% of the time I have zero pity for people who commit suicide, and 99.999% of the time I have zero pity for cops, but it's entirely possible this guy has had the crushing burden of guilt for directly being responsible for another man's dying, and simply felt so guilty he decided he didn't deserve to live?

Obviously you can never know why someone committed suicide, but you can usually make an educated guess that it was for a retarded reason. In this case we can be pretty sure he had a legit reason to want to end his life. I've never caused a person's death, so I can't be sure what that must feel like, but if I ever did I think it's quite possible I'd feel so guilty that I'd decide I don't deserve to live anymore either.

Basically what I'm saying is that this cop's suicide is actually pretty sad and tragic. As much as most of us here hated him for what he did, I sincerely doubt any of us felt he deserved to die over it. Apparently he was even more disgusted with himself than we were 🙁

meh. very few are celebrating his death. most just don't care and think he is a coward. instead of facing the punishment he decided to take the easy way out.

i would have prefered he stay alive face it like a man. now all he did is rob the family of closure and punished his family (and if you believe in it damned his soul to hell).


its a very sad story. one mans decision lead to his death and a innocent mans. not to mention destroyed 2 families (havent seen if he has a wife and kids though).

So what do you think of the record number of suicides among our soldiers in Iraq? They're all cowards? Or maybe they're traumatized by the things they have seen and done?