At a press conference during the height of the K2 scare last summer, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton described an encounter between his officers and a Bronx man suspected of being high on the synthetic drug. The man allegedly locked himself inside of his apartment, prompting officers to hack at the door with an electric saw. "This individual was so out of it, he grabbed the electric saw with both hands and was totally impervious to the pain," Bratton told reporters. "It took quite a few efforts on the part of our officers to ultimately subdue him."
Bratton did not name the man, or clarify that 29-year-old Anthony Paul II died of cardiac arrest hours after he was tasered and handcuffed. Paul's family announced on Wednesday that they are filing a $25 million lawsuit against the NYPD, EMS and North Central Bronx Hospital claiming violation of civil rights, use of excessive force, wrongful death and negligence.
Officers responded to a 911 call about an emotionally disturbed person who had "apparently" overdosed on drugs shortly after 9:45 p.m. on the night of July 1, 2015, according to the NYPD. Paul allegedly refused to let officers into his apartment, prompting the police to call for EMS backup shortly after 10:00. At 10:20, a hostage negotiation team was called in and at 12:30, officers used an electric saw to break down the door.
Paul was allegedly "confrontational and aggressive" with officers, prompting them to administer the taser. Officers then front-cuffed him and transported him to North Central Bronx Hospital. He suffered cardiac arrest in the emergency room at 1:39 a.m.
According to Derek Sells, the attorney for the Paul family, the City's autopsy report determined that Paul did not have K2 in his system when police encountered him. A subsequent blood and urine test turned up the same result. "The police commissioner gave his press conference almost three weeks after the lab had already determined that there was no K2 in Mr. Paul's body," Sells told us on Wednesday.
Sells believes that excessive tasering caused Paul's cardiac arrest. According to the attorney, EMS and hospital staff failed to give Paul a sedative to calm his heart rate. "Mr. Paul was bleeding profusely. He had 30 cuts on his body from the saw, had been tasered multiple times, and was handcuffed," Sells said. "A person in that situation will have high heart rate."
During the same August press conference where Bratton made anecdotal reference to Paul, the NYPD used clips of a circa-2003 episode of COPS shot in Des Moines, Iowa to illustrate the effects of K2. The man featured in the clip is high on PCP. The NYPD later stated that the video was "shown to depict the type of behavior sometimes associated with 'excited delirium syndrome,'" and that it was "never, ever said that it was K2 that the people were on."
The Paul family suit also alleges that the NYPD is withholding video footage of the arrest, and that officers entered Paul's room "without justification"—that Paul was not presenting "any immediate threat" to himself or others behind his locked door. "They said that Anthony was nude," Paul's father, Paul Sr., told NY1. "When somebody doesn't have clothes on them, they can't pull out a gun from somewhere. They can't pull out a knife."
Police arrested Paul at his temporary home, a three-quarter house at 2846 Briggs Avenue in the Bronx. Paul had recently finished serving prison time, and did not have a history of mental health issues, according to his attorney. The three-quarter house was one of several operated by the notorious rehab provider Narco Freedom.
The NYPD confirmed on Wednesday that a taser was used on Paul the night of his death, but would not clarify how many shocks were emitted. The NYPD patrolman's guide mandates that officers in "no situation [use] more than three standard discharge cycles against any subject." According to a spokeswoman for the department, Paul's death certificate indicated cardiac arrhythmia and "possible drug intoxication."
An online obituary recalls Paul's "handsome smile, big hugs, and a playful energy." When he died, the Nyack native was working as a telemarketing analyst and a warehouse assistant by day, and studying to be a personal trainer by night.
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
