NYPD asks family of Tamon Robinson, man killed by NYPD car, to pay for the dent his body left on car
New York City Police cars are parked on the street in Times Square on October 25, 2011 in New York City.
In April, New York Police Department officers accidentally struck an unarmed Brooklyn man with their car. The victim, Tamon Robinson, died in hospital. Now, the NYPD wants to get the car repaired. Perhaps hoping to avoid an awkward face-to-face situation, the city sent a letter to Tamon's address, asking for $710 for “property damage to a vehicle owned by the New York Police Department," according to a copy of the letter obtained by the New York Daily News. The letter also threatens to sue Tamon's family if the money isn't paid.
On April 12, police officers answered a call reporting that a man was stealing decorative stones from a house. When police arrived, Tamon immediately fled, running toward the housing projects where he lived, the New York Times reported. But the police car accidentally hit him before he made it home. He was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.
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Even more disturbing is that friends said that Tamon had permission from the building's owner to take the stones, because he ran a side business collecting building materials in addition to his full-time job, the Times reported.
The family's lawyer Sanford Rubenstein says that the NYPD isn't even supposed to repair the car, because it would violate a court order meant to preserve the damaged vehicle as evidence for a criminal investigation, the Daily News reported. Rubenstein has threatened to sue the city.
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