NEW YORK — A New York Police Department officer has been
indicted in the shooting in February of an unarmed man who was pursued into his
Bronx home amid a crackdown on street corner drug dealing, according to a law
enforcement official.
Officer Richard Haste, 30, is to surrender Wednesday morning
to face manslaughter charges in the death of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham, said
the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because the indictment
hadn’t been made public.
The NYPD declined to comment. Prosecutors in the Bronx also
refused to discuss the outcome of a lengthy investigation; Haste testified
before the grand jury for three hours.
The officer’s lawyer, Stuart London, said Tuesday he would
reserve comment until any indictment is unsealed.
The shooting stemmed from an NYPD investigation of a
persistent drug trade in the Bronx neighborhood where Graham lived. At the
time, police said an observation team identified Graham as a potential suspect
and radioed to other officers that he appeared to be armed with a pistol.
A civilian witness told police that around the same time,
two police officers in plain clothes but wearing NYPD raid jackets pulled up
and yelled at a man — apparently Graham — “Police! Don’t move!” After the man
ducked into Graham’s three-family home, the officers found a back entrance,
climbed some stairs and broke down the door to a second-floor apartment where
Graham lived with his grandmother and other family, police said.
An officer positioned behind the shooter reported seeing Graham
run toward a bathroom, possibly to flush away some marijuana. He also heard
Haste yell, “Show me your hands!” and “Gun! Gun!” before a shot rang out,
police said.
Haste fired one shot at close range from his 9mm
semiautomatic handgun, police said. The victim was struck in the upper chest
and collapsed inside the bathroom, as his grandmother and 6-year-old brother
stood nearby. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
A search of the apartment failed to turn up any weapons.
The shooting has sparked anti-NYPD protests by supporters of
the Graham family who called it a clear case of excessive force. A statement
Monday by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network said a Bronx jury
should be able to decide the officer’s fate.
“While no one takes any pleasure in a life loss or a police
officer being indicted, we always demand that the process of justice be fairly
and impartially administered,” the statement said. “We will continue to stand
with Ramarley Graham’s parents during the difficult days ahead.”
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