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Bipolar Queens Man Dies After Being Tasered By NYPD In His Home
By
David Cruz
Published Jun 23, 2020
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By
David Cruz
Published Jun 23, 2020
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A mentally ill Queens man is dead after he was repeatedly Tasered by NYPD officers who say he threatened them with a samurai sword inside his home.
Officers from the 109th Precinct responded to the home of George Zapantis in Whitestone on Sunday night after receiving a 911 call for a man possessing a gun, according to police.
Zapantis, 29, was in his basement, when police say they spotted him holding the sword. Zapantis allegedly advanced toward the officers with the sword in hand, refusing orders to drop it, at which point police say they Tased him.
Videos taken by a neighbor (below) show four officers attempting to handcuff Zapantis at the entrance to the home, where they Tased him again. In that video, he does not appear to be armed. Zapantis went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Zapantis's upstairs neighbors tell the Daily News he was not threatening anyone with the sword, but was playing with it dressed as a gladiator in the basement when police burst in.
The NYPD's Force Investigation Division is now investigating the circumstances leading to the incident.
Zapantis's mother Athanasia Zapantis said a neighbor who called 911 had a history of harassing her son, and that the neighbor was clapping as police Tased and arrested Zapantis. “I’m crying because I was not here for my son in his last moments, and he died in such a horrible way,” a distraught Zapantis told the News. “He was my left hand, my son. He was everything ... He died for no reason.”
George Vomvolakis, the attorney representing Zapantis's family, disputes the NYPD's account, telling Gothamist he wants full transparency in the NYPD's investigation.
"We want to view the body cam footage and any potential videos or witness statements they may have in order to confirm their accusation that Mr. Zapantis was armed and that their use of the Taser...was justified," said Vomvolakis, who added that he's seen three videos of the incident showing Zapantis with no sword in his hand when he was taken down by police and zapped at least twice.
"The video we have shows that his back was turned to them, his hands were behind his back and there were four or five officers screaming at him and tasing at him, and yelling at him to not resist," said Vomvolakis. Below, two of the videos which Vomvolakis shared with Gothamist:
Zapantis had a history of mental illness, suffering from bipolar disorder, said Vomvolakis.
"It also remains to be seen whether or not the police were aware of that at the time that they responded, as well as at the time that they used these Tasers," said Vomvalkis, adding that repeated uses of a Taser can lead to death. "And if they did know, then it clearly was a use of excessive force, and that possibly they could have deescalated the situation by talking to him."
A report released by the Civilian Complaint Review Board last December says the NYPD used Tasers more on minorities and the mentally ill, finding that between 2014 and 2017, 114 people were tased, with 59% of complainants identified as Black, and 37% considered "emotionally disturbed."
Stun-gun incidents involving police officers include the death of Ariel Galarza, who died in November 2016 shortly after officers in the Bronx tased him after Galarza allegedly threatened them with a broken bottle. In July 2015, Anthony Paul II died shortly after officers prodded him with a Taser in his home in the Fordham section of the Bronx.
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David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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