New York Post – by Selma Algar
A Brooklyn widow who taped her husband’s death certificate to her front door in frustration after NYPD cops repeatedly came looking for him has settled a suit against the city for $10,000, The Post has learned.
Along with her son, Karen Fennell claimed that NYPD officers frequently raided her Bushwick apartment in an attempt to arrest James Jordan Sr. despite the fact that he died in 2006, according to her Brooklyn federal court suit filed last year.
She grew so exasperated with the repeated visits and upturned furniture that she finally attached his death certificate to her front door, papers state.
Fennell claimed that she repeatedly told the ransacking officers that the man they were looking for was not around to arrest.
With the city vigorously fighting back against her suit, Fennell decided to accept the modest settlement last week to avoid a grueling trial, her attorney, Ugochukwu Uzoh, told The Post Wednesday.
The city argued that Fennell was visited by different sets of officers each time they came looking for Jordan and that they weren’t aware he was dead.
“She just did not want to go through a trial,” Uzoh said. “She wanted to resolve the case and move on so she accepted their offer.”
A city Law Department spokesman said the settlement was in the best interest of the city.
Jordan Sr., who died from diabetes at age 46, was last arrested in 1996 for turnstile-jumping.
But officers still invaded his family’s home on Sumner Avenue, demanding to see him — coming four times in 2014 alone.
“I wanted it to be the first thing they saw before they came into my home and flipped it upside down,” Fennell told The Post in 2014 of her morbid posting. “I can’t hide anyone in my apartment. It’s not big enough for that. But they keep coming and insisting that he’s in my house.”
Jordan said she was puzzled by the NYPD’s bizarre fixation with her late spouse because he had such a minuscule criminal history.
“He was a hardworking man, and he took care of eight kids,” the widow said. “It isn’t right for them to be coming after him like this. There’s no reason for it.”
She declined to comment on the settlement.
http://nypost.com/2015/08/26/widow-gets-10000-after-nypd-tried-to-arrest-her-dead-husband/
I’m surprised they didn’t have the body exhumed so they could slap handcuffs on him (would be rather hard with stiff arms and all…), oh wait, maybe he was cremated?
“… Bushwick apartment in an attempt to arrest James Jordan Sr. despite the fact that he died in 2006…”
Guess they figure if he can still vote he can still be arrested, too.
Can we hear “Dead Already” from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus?