EDENWALD — The NYPD cop accused of gunning down Ramarley Graham also threatened to shoot the slain teen’s sobbing grandmother in the chaotic moments after cops burst into their Bronx apartment, a new lawsuit charges.
The blistering 108-page lawsuit filed by Graham’s family details how plainclothes officers in street narcotics unit barged into their apartment, fired at the teen and hauled his grandmother away for hours of grueling questioning and intimidation.
Graham’s family filed the lawsuit in Bronx Supreme Court on Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of his death. They accused the NYPD of improperly training officers, unfairly targeting minorities in stop-and-frisks and trying to cover up the shooting of the 18-year-old.
Officer Richard Haste shot Graham in the chest on Feb. 2, 2012, after following the teen into his apartment bathroom. Graham’s grandmother, Patricia Hartley, who was several feet away from Graham at the time, immediately cried out, “Why did you shoot him, why you killed him?” the lawsuit says.
Haste then pushed Hartley into a vase and said, “Get the f— away before I have to shoot you, too,” according to the lawsuit.
Hartley, who was 58 and weighed 85 pounds at the time, was then allegedly forced into a seat and had her arm twisted behind her back after she tried to make a phone call.
Cops eventually took Hartley to the 47th Precinct station house, where investigators called her a “f—ing liar” and claimed she was covering for the dead teen, whom cops believed had thrown a gun out a window, the lawsuit says. No gun was ever recovered, and a small bag of marijuana was found in the toilet.
Officers also allegedly dipped their hands into her coffee, then flicked their fingers against a wall to show how blood splatters. They also showed her a picture of a shot man they claimed was Graham, according to the lawsuit.
Hartley was allegedly locked in a station house room for nearly seven hours, and cops ignored her and her daughter’s request to leave, the suit says. Hartley’s lawyer says he was also denied access to her for more than 90 minutes. When Hartley was eventually released, she was treated at a hospital for trauma.
Haste was indicted on a manslaughter charge in June, but he and the officers who were in the apartment have said that they earlier spotted Graham carrying what appeared to be a gun in his waistband while leaving a neighborhood bodega. They said they chased after the teen when he took off.
According to the NYPD’s account, Graham attempted to flush a small amount of marijuana down a toilet before Haste fired. Haste’s lawyer, Stuart London, has claimed Graham did not follow his client’s orders.
The lawsuit claims Graham’s mother, Connie Malcolm, and the rest of the family were denied access to their apartment for 48 hours while cops searched for a gun.
After the shooting, the NYPD initially claimed Haste and Graham had struggled with one another and the cop’s 9 mm handgun discharged. The lawsuit claims the account was false and “made with the intent to conspire to cover-up the true facts of the incident.”
News outlets also reported that Graham had eight prior arrests. The lawsuit claims many of these arrests were sealed and should not have been released to the media.
“[The NYPD statements] were made with the intent to sway public opinion and sympathy against Ramarley Graham and his family and in favor of the police,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit does not specify a damage amount the family seeks. It claims that Graham was unduly targeted for being black and that the NYPD has not done enough to train cops in the Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit.
The NYPD, Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Haste and other officers are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The NYPD and the city Law Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
F them dirty co*k suc*ers. Like they all say about drugs – you are all the same!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When is every one going to wake up and see that all F`in cops are the F`IN same. Them damned cops just piss me right off. they are lucky that I do not declare one day a month to open season on cops at all levels. All cops are just a bunch of dirty F`n pukes !
diggerdan you took the words right out of my mouth
The defense is that the shot teen didn’t obey orders. I thought that Taser’s were introduced to stop the immediate use of deadly force. It seems that deadly force is still the norm and the Taser is for inflecting pain, torturing, and entertaining Ankles.
How about we fire all of the cops and government and find our own?
Any POS that would abuse an 85 lb. old woman, should be beaten to within an inch of their lives with a Louisville Slugger, shattering BOTH kneecaps, and BOTH elbows, so they would never be capable of rendering such abuse again!!!
Welcome to New York City, the place of such ‘tranquility’ that the latest mayor outlaws what he thinks you should not eat, drink, smoke, or otherwise ingest.
For my money, that ‘baggy’ found in the toilet should have been tested for DNA to see just whose was on it.
Well, at least NOW we know why they want to disarm us: So that we’re unable to effectively respond to the entirely tyrannical acts of BIG, OUT-OF-CONTROL GOVERNMENT.
Perhaps at some point NYC residents will begin rearming themselves and forming self defense units for protection against the Israeli Occupation Forces. Recalling the geurilla tactics used against the Germans in WWII and similar tactics used against American Forces in Vietnam.
There are a lot more guns in NYC than you’d imagine, and a lot more second amendment supporters than you’d suspect too.
Don’t be fooled by the stereotypes (or the media). Millions of New Yorkers want and DEPEND on rural America being armed to the teeth, and there are millions of “illegal” guns floating around too.
They (New Yorkers) don’t get much range time, but they don’t have to shoot very far either.