Gothamist – by John Del Signore
A 46-year-old Queens man died shortly after being placed in handcuffs by NYPD officers yesterday afternoon. Police say Daniel Levitt Jr. ran from officers after trying to ditch them on a scooter in Ridgewood shortly after 2 p.m. According to the NYPD, Levitt Jr. was wanted on an outstanding warrant related to a prior arrest for shoplifting an iPad Mini, and when officers in an unmarked car pulled up to him, he sped off on a scooter, heading the wrong way down Grandview Avenue.
Sources tell the Times that Levitt Jr. crashed several blocks later and then tried to flee on foot. He was apprehended and handcuffed, at which point police say he told officers he was asthmatic and having difficulty breathing. Officers say they gave him assistance with an inhaler in one of his pockets, and he said he was fine after that. But he then collapsed, according to police.
The NYPD says officers removed the handcuffs and administered CPR, but it wasn’t enough. EMS transported Levitt Jr. to Wyckoff Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Levitt’s father tells the Times he lived with his girlfriend at the Grand Motor Inn in Maspeth, Queens, which appears to be an eminently depressing place of lodging. “He was a strong kid, but I know he couldn’t run — forget it,” Daniel Levitt Sr., 67, says. “In the past he had trouble with police, but everything’s been dismissed.”
Levitt’s girlfriend also disputes he had an active warrant. Police say the warrant was issued after he missed a scheduled court appearance.
Levitt Sr. says he doesn’t believe officers’ account of the arrest, and highly doubts his son would run from police, given his poor physical condition. He tells NY 1 that his son “had bruises on his body and neck” when he identified the body, though he adds that a doctor told him the bruises could be part of natural changes that happen to a corpse.
According to Levitt Sr., witnesses say police used a chokehold on his son and hit him. “I’m getting texts left and right from people telling me that people that saw it saw the cops put him in a chokehold. They saw one of the cops hit him, the cops that chased him,” Levitt Sr. tells NY1. “Now, he can’t run because, he can’t run no more than 20 feet because he’s a severe, severe asthmatic, and he wouldn’t be able to run half a block.”
The Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of death. The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the case.