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No charges against NYPD officers who shot a man with a BB gun during Brooklyn car stop
By
Samantha Max
Published Feb 27, 2023
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Still shot, NYPD dash cam video
By
Samantha Max
Published Feb 27, 2023
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The sister of a man who was fatally shot by police after brandishing a BB gun said she was “very disappointed" by the state Attorney General's decision to not bring criminal charges against the NYPD officers involved.
“It didn't have to happen that way,” Cathay Deignan said in an interview with Gothamist. “They didn't have to kill him."
In a 10-page report released Friday afternoon, the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation said it would not be able to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that police violated the law when they shot Brian Astarita, 65, during a 2021 traffic stop in Brooklyn. The report said the officers believed the air pistol in Astarita’s hand was real and that their lives were in danger.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Police Benevolent Association, which represents the officers, also could not be reached.
Prosecutors reviewed 51 videos, including footage from body cameras, dashboard cameras and bystanders’ cell phones, according to the report. They also spoke with more than two dozen witnesses before coming to the conclusion not to bring criminal charges against Officers Theresa Haley and Matthew Mellas, who collectively fired 27 shots at Astarita, hitting him more than a dozen times. Haley has been with the department since 2003 and Mellas joined the NYPD in 2012.
Astarita’s sister said she didn’t understand why police had fired so many shots at her brother. She said Astarita’s death was a “complete shock,” describing him as a “very kind, fun-loving” person who was close with her kids.
“He was a great guy, a responsible guy,” she said. “A lot of people are going to miss him.”
The encounter began shortly before 4 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2021, when Haley, a member of the NYPD highway unit, was using a radar to scan for speeders on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. Astarita passed her while driving 21 miles per hour over the speed limit.
Haley pulled over Astarita and told him he was driving 71 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone, according to body camera footage released by the NYPD. But when the officer asked for Astarita’s driver’s license, according to the report, he said he didn’t have a license and that it was suspended. Then, he drove away.
“Stop the car!” Haley said, then ran back to her own vehicle, chasing Astarita with her siren on, video shows. When Astarita kept driving, the report said the officer pulled in front of him to try to slow him down.
“Stop the car,” Haley said again in NYPD footage. “Don’t be stupid."
But Astarita kept driving. At one point, he hit the officer’s bumper. When Haley got out of her car and told the man to stop, he still kept driving.
Haley called for backup and kept pursuing. She and Mellas stopped Astarita between exits 4 and 5 on the highway. Bystander video published by the NYPD shows Astarita getting out of his car, opening the back door and getting back into the driver’s seat. Then, he reemerged with a black BB gun, which Haley told the attorney general’s office she thought was a firearm.
Haley and Mellas pointed their guns at Astarita and repeatedly told him to drop his weapon, according to the report and the NYPD video. The report states that Astarita told them: “You’re going to let me go” and pointed his gun at the officers.
Both officers started shooting and Astarita fell. A witness told prosecutors that Astarita continued to point the BB gun in the direction of the officers while he was on the ground, and the officers kept shooting.
Haley ultimately fired 16 rounds. Mellas fired 11.
Police said at the time that the officers immediately began to render aid and called for an ambulance. Astarita was pronounced dead at Lutheran Medical Center. An autopsy report found no alcohol or drugs in his system, besides prescription medication, the report states. His cause of death was gunshot wounds in his torso and extremities, as well as damage to his heart and aorta.
Astarita’s death is one of two fatal shootings during a traffic stop that the attorney general has investigated since the state Legislature passed a law in 2020 requiring the office to review all killings by law enforcement in the state. NYPD officers also shot, but did not kill, a teenager during an attempted vehicle stop in the Bronx last March. The county district attorney’s office is investigating that case.
The NYPD made more than 670,000 car stops in 2022, according to data obtained by Gothamist. Officers reported using force in just 324 of those stops.
New York has also recently tightened its restrictions for imitation guns to prevent people from mistaking fake firearms for real ones. A law took effect in November requiring all toy guns to be either clear or brightly colored. An off-duty New York City correction officer has been charged with murder for shooting and killing a teenager who was playing with a toy gun.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police can use deadly force if they could reasonably believe that someone poses a serious danger to officers or members of the public. The NYPD use of force policy instructs officers that their “primary duty” is to “protect human life” but allows members of service to use deadly force “to prevent or terminate the unlawful use of force that may cause death or serious injury.”
Tagged
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attorney general
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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