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Mother of Man Killed by Police: ‘I Want No Cover-Up; I Want Answers’
New York Times ^ | October 6, 2012 | COLIN MOYNIHAN and WENDY RUDERMAN

Posted on 10/06/2012 5:58:50 PM PDT by Lancey Howard

Detective Hassan Hamdy made the split-second decision to fire a single fatal shot at an unarmed motorist during an early morning traffic stop on a highway in Queens because he thought the driver was reaching for a gun, according to the detective’s lawyer.

The driver, Noel Polanco, 22, did not comply with Detective Hamdy’s orders to put his hands up, instead reaching “down in a quick motion, down on the floor of the car,” said lawyer Philip Karasyk, representing the detective.

Detective Hamdy twice yelled “Police!” and was wearing a heavy vest with the word “police” written across it, Mr. Karasyk said. “At that point my guy fires, thinking he has a gun,” Mr. Karasyk said in an interview Saturday night. “If this guy had kept his hands up or on the wheel, we wouldn’t be here. Had not for this person reaching down, lunging for the floor and not complying with orders to show his hands, we wouldn’t be here.”

(snip)

Mr. Polanco was driving on the Grand Central Parkway just after 5 a.m. on Thursday when he was pulled over by uniformed members of the Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit, who were riding in unmarked vans. They said that he had twice cut them off.

Mr. Karasyk said officers activated lights and sirens and yelled at Mr. Polanco to pull over, but he sped up and continued driving, which escalated the officers’ level of alertness.

“He was a danger to other motorists on the road,” Mr. Karasyk said. "They actually had to box him in and pull him over.”

(snip)

Toxicology tests, administered after the shooting, showed no drugs or alcohol in Detective Hamdy’s system, police said.

“He is a squared-away guy. He doesn’t drink. He takes no drugs. He is on no medications whatsoever,” Mr. Karasyk said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hassanhamdy; nypdshooting; nyshooting; polanco; policeshooting; suspiciousshooting
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To: Lancey Howard
I maintain that the kid was probably reaching down beneath his seat to stash his drugs.

There were no drugs reported to have been found in the car.

81 posted on 10/07/2012 4:34:28 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Uncle Chip

Not from what I read.


82 posted on 10/07/2012 4:37:02 AM PDT by South Dakota (shut up and drill)
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To: South Dakota
Depends upon who one believes -- the cop who shot him or the passenger who witnessed it.

Give them both lie detector tests along with sleeping beauty in the back seat.

83 posted on 10/07/2012 4:46:31 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: South Dakota

And about sleeping beauty:

“Police sources identified the officer in Polanco’s car as 29-year-old Vanessa Rodriguez. She was waving her police ID out the window just before the shooting, sources said.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-shot-police-laguardia-airport-article-1.1174664

How was she sleeping and waving her ID out the window at the same time and just before the shooting???

The cover-up started right there.


84 posted on 10/07/2012 6:03:32 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Lancey Howard

Polanco “did not comply when ordered TO PUT HIS HANDS UP”. Hmmm PUT UP HANDS, WHILE SITTING BEHIND THE WHEEL OF THE CAR?

How about “keep your hands on the wheel”


85 posted on 10/07/2012 6:14:34 AM PDT by capt B
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To: Ken H
So you're saying you believe that the police - and I don't mean the female officer - have already lied. Correct?

Not correct.
I am reluctant to believe reports from Democrat newspapers. I hear one thing from "the police" and something else from "police sources". And as I posted, it's possible nobody is lying. It's alo possible everybody is lying. But no, I'm not ready to call anybody a liar yet.

86 posted on 10/07/2012 8:50:00 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard
And as I posted, it's possible nobody is lying.

How is it possible that no one is lying? You said in post #77: "I think the woman was passed out, then woke up after the car was pulled over and waved her ID out the window.".

NYPD says otherwise. Someone is lying. You can't have it both ways.

87 posted on 10/07/2012 9:54:36 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: Ken H
NYPD says otherwise.

Please point me to your source for the NYPD denying that the suspended shoplifter cop waved her ID out the window after she woke up. Thanks.

88 posted on 10/07/2012 10:24:02 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard
From the NYT article...

A second passenger, an off-duty police officer named Vanessa Rodriguez, was asleep in the back seat, police said.

She can't both be asleep and waving her ID out the window at the police. Someone is lying.

89 posted on 10/07/2012 10:48:15 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: Ken H

Give the police a few weeks and they’ll figure out the truth. Of course that truth we certainly find the shooting was legit.

Don’t you love living in a police state.


90 posted on 10/07/2012 11:03:09 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Lancey Howard
It's right here:

"Police sources identified the officer in Polanco’s car as 29-year-old Vanessa Rodriguez. She was waving her police ID out the window just before the shooting, sources said."

The article says "just before the shooting".

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-shot-police-laguardia-airport-article-1.1174664

And then the story changes to her being asleep until after the shooting.

So then the police source is either lying or lying.

91 posted on 10/07/2012 11:06:31 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Lancey Howard

I’m astounded that you are going to great lengths to defend the cop who killed a young man, but condemning the cop who has made statements indicating it was a bad shooting.

Just another example of how cops cover up the crimes of their own.


92 posted on 10/07/2012 11:44:25 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver
I’m astounded that you are going to great lengths to defend the cop

Actually, I'm not.

If it was a criminally bad shoot then the cop needs to suffer serious consequences. I just differ from the usual small horde of cop-hating freepers here for the same reason I always differ with them - - because I am willing to wait for a full investigation rather than fall hook, line, and sinker for the initial accounts published in some liberal Democrat newspaper. The fact is, "witnesses" can blab until the cows come home, while the cops have to keep their mouths shut until the investigation is complete. Some people give these "witnesses" the "God's honest truth" award whereas I tend to - - within reason - - give the cop the benefit of the doubt until all the facts and testimonies are known. Let the investigation proceed and let's see where it goes.

Again, though, it was the reckless behavior of the driver that put him in a position for a tragedy to occur.

By the way: ...but condemning the cop who has made statements indicating it was a bad shooting.

Seriously? You typed that? I have heard nothing from her. NO statements. One report has the police saying she was asleep while another report quotes "police sources" as saying she waved a police ID out the window. None of the reports are clear, and none directly quote her, which is not surprising in the immediate aftermath of a deadly shooting. I also maintain that whether or not she did indeed wave an ID out the back window is not relevant in the potentially dangerous situation the cops found themselves in at 5 dark-o'clock in the morning. Fact is, she may have been asleep and then woke up and waved her ID, maybe even AFTER the shooting. So, BOTH things could be true. But see, that's where the full and thorough investigation comes in.

FRegards,
LH

93 posted on 10/07/2012 12:26:03 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard

Yes willing to wait for a court to convict the cop but not so much for the guy who was killed. He’s already been declared guilty and deserving of the punishment he received via cop.

right?


94 posted on 10/07/2012 12:29:29 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Uncle Chip

But according to Dorothy Garcia, 74, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Hamdy was one of several officers who broke down her front door in pursuit of her grandson, who they mistakenly believed was involved in a violent crime.

Garcia identified Hamdy after being shown his photograph by reporters on Friday.

“They stormed up. They were screaming,” Garcia said. She answered the door and the officers demanded to see her grandson, Tyrell Garcia, who was then 23.

When Ms. Garcia refused to let them in her house without a warrant, Hassan and the other officers began forcing their way into the house, she said. The officers broke down the door and chased after Tyrell, who hid in a neighbor’s garage.

According to the lawsuit, the teen surrendered and walked out of the garage peacefully, but was thrown to the ground and beaten by officers. A police dog was allowed to bite him repeatedly, the complaint said.

Several minor criminal charges were filed against Garcia for fleeing the police, but were later dropped, said Lichtmacher, the attorney. Garcia was cleared of any involvement in the crime that prompted the initial search.

“They were extremely aggressive with very little information,” Lichtmacher said. “They had no warrant. It was a very strange incident.”


95 posted on 10/07/2012 1:04:38 PM PDT by GreaterSwiss
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To: driftdiver
He’s already been declared guilty and deserving of the punishment he received via cop.

Try again.
Start by checking out 3/4 of the posts on this thread to see who's already been convicted.

96 posted on 10/07/2012 1:16:51 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard

By you and the other posters who excuse any behavior from law enforcement.


97 posted on 10/07/2012 3:29:14 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: vbmoneyspender

That is some sound sleeper, what with the sirens going off all around them during the traffic stop.

You would have to be passed out not awaken to police sirens today with their deafening volume.

She was most definitely NOT asleep.


98 posted on 10/09/2012 8:19:54 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (REPEAL OBAMACARE. Nothing else matters.)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free
That is some sound sleeper, what with the sirens going off all around them during the traffic stop

According to the story:

...officers activated lights and sirens and yelled at Mr. Polanco to pull over, but he sped up and continued driving, which escalated the officers’ level of alertness. “He was a danger to other motorists on the road,” Mr. Karasyk said. “A reasonable person doesn’t refuse to pull over in response to a police vehicle flashing lights and sirens. They actually had to box him in and pull him over.”

I agree. I cannot believe that woman was still passed out drunk in the back seat with all that racket going on when they finally forced the guy to pull over.

99 posted on 10/09/2012 8:29:31 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard
I agree. I cannot believe that woman was still passed out drunk in the back seat with all that racket going on when they finally forced the guy to pull over.

So you are saying that she must have been awake, right?

Also, it says they had the guy boxed in. What was the urgency of approaching the vehicle with weapon drawn? Why not have the passengers exit the car and lie down on the pavement?

100 posted on 10/10/2012 2:11:07 AM PDT by Ken H
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