State eyeing Bx. nab death
THE STATE attorney general’s office has launched a probe into the death of a Bronx man who lost consciousness while in police custody, officials said Wednesday.
Dwayne Pritchett, 48, died of unknown causes two hours after he tussled with cops in his Jerome Park apartment on Jan. 28.
The attorney general’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit opened the investigation using its authority under a recent executive order, said Amy Spitalnick, spokeswoman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
“We’re committed to conducting an independent, comprehensive and fair investigation,” Spitalnick said.
Alotisia Stevens, 42, the mother of Pritchett’s 3-year-old son, cheered the news.
“I just want justice. I want to know why he is dead,” she said.
“If that agency (the attorney general’s office) can bring that to light, then I will be satisfied.”
Pritchett’s father had called police to report that his son was acting erratically and had locked himself in a bedroom.
Sources said responding officers were in the home at about 4:50 p.m. when Pritchett (photo), who has a history of drug abuse, suddenly opened the door.
Peering into the room, the cops spotted a handgun magazine on the floor, cops said.
They burst inside and struggled with Pritchett.
The police said the deranged man tried to grab a cop’s gun from his holster, but a witness offered a conflicting account.
Herman Garment, 68, said Pritchett never reached for an officer’s gun, but he did put up a fierce fight and spit at the cops.
Officers wrestled with the man and cuffed him. Pritchett lost consciousness at some point after he was handcuffed, prompting cops to call paramedics.
The first responders tried to revive Pritchett with CPR and the opioid antidote naloxone as he lay handcuffed on the floor, sources said.
They rushed him to New YorkPresbyterian Hospital Allen, where he died at about 6:45 p.m.
The city medical examiner’s office did not respond to a request for comment. But as of late last month, it had not yet determined Pritchett’s cause of death.
Gov. Cuomo signed an executive order in 2015 giving Schneiderman’s office the power to investigate the deaths of unarmed civilians when police are involved.
“The undisputed facts of what happened here — an unarmed, handcuffed 48-year-old man who dies while in police custody — calls out for an independent criminal investigation by the attorney general’s office based on the governor’s executive order,” said Stevens’ lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein. “We are pleased the attorney general’s office has taken jurisdiction of this matter.”