16‘Clear his name!’
TWU mourns agent, rips ‘joke’ of an arrest
TRANSIT WORKERS gathered at a Bronx funeral home Monday to say their final goodbyes to fallen station agent Darryl Goodwin — and call on police to clear the dead man’s name.
Goodwin, 54, suffered a fatal heart attack last Tuesday, months after police arrested him for refusing to open a security gate for an officer chasing a suspected shoplifter.
Derick Echevarria, vice president of stations for Transport Workers Union Local 100, said Goodwin had been wrongly accused by cops.
“It’s not over,” Echevarria said as he and about 20 other transit staffers prepared to give their friend a somber sendoff. “We want his name cleared.” Goodwin, a 27-year transit veteran, was charged with assault, obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest after cops said he refused to open a gate to let them into the W. 59th St.-Columbus Circle station on May 16.
An NYPD lieutenant said he injured his thumb in a tussle with Goodwin after the suspect got away.
But Echevarria, who had known Goodwin since high school, said the “gentle giant” would never tussle with anyone, especially a cop.
“He’s a good person. Quiet, reserved, so when they said he assaulted the police, it was like a joke for us,” Echevarria said.
Goodwin’s surviving family, two sisters, attended Monday’s funeral with the union but declined to speak.
“They’re devastated. We’re trying to give them as much support as we can,” Echevarria said.
Goodwin’s run-in with police started around 8:30 p.m. on May 16, when NYPD Lt. Richard Khalaf burst into the station in hot pursuit of the thief. Khalaf said Goodwin twice ignored his orders to open the security gate — allowing the suspect he was chasing to go free. The cop demanded Goodwin show him ID, and then claimed he injured his thumb when the station agent yanked it back. Goodwin later told the Daily News he was stunned by the assault charge. “If he got cut with the badge, he did it himself,” the station agent said. NYC Transit suspended Goodwin after his arrest. He settled disciplinary charges by accepting 60 days without pay. Joe Bermudez, TWU stations chairman, said NYC Transit was “shameful” for not supporting Goodwin. “This guy was extraordinary for (nearly) 30 years and they abandoned him,” Bermudez said.