Mr. Brown is one of three police officers from the 120th Precinct assigned to desk duty pending a grand jury investigation of Mr. Sayon's death, a consequence of a struggle that took place while Officer Brown was taking part in a drug sweep of the Park Hill area. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani appealed for acceptance of the finding. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Donald is now married. Officers Brown and Gerson and Sergeant Mahoney were among them, working just outside 225 Park Hill Avenue, near where Mr. Sayon lived. STATEN ISLAND, New York (WABC) -- Eleven reputed mobsters were arrested in connection with a heroin and fentanyl ring that distributed the drugs to Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey. "It's always risky, sure," Mr. Caruso said. ga('ads.send', { The struggle with the man, Ernest Sayon, was witnessed by dozens of residents of the Clifton section of Staten Island who said that Officer Brown and others grappled with Mr. Sayon and beat and choke him as he lay with his hands cuffed behind him. "The grand jury found I did nothing wrong, and I know myself I did nothing wrong.''. The same way Eric Garner, death by asphyxiation. The second reason the grand jurycame under fire was for its lengthy deliberatingprocess caused by a series of postponements. There's the construction. Other names that Donald uses includes Donald M Brown. Bedell-Pizzo Funeral Home Add Photos Add a Memory William Cloke Native Islander, Wlliam H. Cloke Jr., 83, passed away on February 3, 2023 at his Rosebank home. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. When the Big Apple's only Charlie Browns suddenly shut down in 2019, a prime piece of restaurant-ready property opened up in New York City. Now everyone knows that they killed my child, Sayons mother, Masita Sayon, said Monday. In early June of 1994, a CCRB memorandum indicated said the officers involved in Sayons death did not have the legal authority to make the arrest. "I saw Officer Brown," Ms. Emptage said. Stanley Jerome Alexander February 22, 2023. Details of the incident. Mr. Murphy the lawyer, who is no relation to the prosecutor and who represents Mr. Sayon's mother and his two children and their mothers, said: "They are crying. 53 Decker Ave. . Donald may live in a nearby Staten Island city, so try searching all of New York: The officers said the drive took only four minutes; they and their union contended that many witnesses were distorting the facts or lying. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Shortly before the October term expired, though, jurors voted to extend deliberations again, postponing a deliberation no later than Jan. 31. 1050 Forest Hill Rd, Staten . There is no debate over the fact that officers from the 120th Precinct, organized into a Special Narcotics Emergency Unit, were continuing the drug sweeps that had, up to that point, resulted in 36 arrests. The case was regarded as the biggest test in the 11-year tenure of District Attorney Murphy, who won re-election this fall. Ernest Sayon. A 23-year-old Staten Island man died late yesterday after suffering a head injury during a struggle with a police officer in the Clifton neighborhood, the police said. Current address. While a group of young black men is rapping near the Park Hill complex, an elderly woman, Mrs. Burgess (Tonya Pinkins) calls the police after they throw a rock at her. John Mahoney, 36; and Officer Gregg Gerson, 25, were temporarily taken off their beats and placed on administrative duty, Advance archives show. But the District Attorney, saying he had permission from the officers' lawyers to make the findings public, said: "They have dismissed all charges against all the police officers. The drug dealers and their friends have been bothered by the increased police presence in Park Hill and they have an incentive to exaggerate police wrongdoing in the hopes that the drug sweeps will be called off. He said the family was too upset to comment. An officer went after him, handcuffed him and started pistol-beating him, Gray told the Advance. Moreover, not every witness is necessarily speaking from complete neutrality. }); This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Donald W. Tinney Jr. U.S. Army KIA - Vietnam 14 Apr 1970 . "They were beating and beating and beating his body and his head. It is common knowledge on the streets of Park Hill that Mr. Sayon had a kind of acquaintanceship with Officer Brown. She remained with the practice while attending college at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Perhaps coincidentally also, just down the brightly lighted, white corridor outside Mr. Sayon's mother's apartment, where Mr. Sayon lived, is a single word written graffiti style into the rippled plaster wall. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged people not to rush to any judgment. Donald M Brown, age 70s, lives in Staten Island, NY. In the last couple of years, as in many poor city neighborhoods, guns and drugs proliferated in Park Hill, leading to demands from community leaders, including members of the tenants' association and local clergymen, for more police protection. Turning down Osgood Avenue and toward Gordon Street, the protestors passed the Stapleton Houses, shouting, Stapleton, stand up. Bystanders reinforced the mantras, and motorists honked their horns in encouragement. Daniel Rogers. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { I have nothing on me.''. The neighborhood, mostly populated by African and Caribbean immigrants and American blacks, had been demanding more police protection against violent drug dealers. Legal experts and the Sayons' lawyer predicted that the grand jury, composed of citizens of a conservative borough that is home to a large concentration of police officers and the city's smallest minority community, would be sympathetic to the officers. He cautioned that the finding neither implies guilt nor determines whether a homicide is justifiable. VIEW EMAIL ADDRESSES . Staten Island's Vietnam War Fallen . Then, the officers heard "a big explosion" in the area, said Detective Kim Royster, a police spokeswoman. Just before that though, she gives what is possibly the best dialogue on the show so far: "You call this a movement? The decision -- one that reflects the frequent reluctance of grand juries to indict police officers for using force against suspects -- had pitted a family and a neighborhood who regarded Mr. Sayon as a martyr, against police officers and their supporters who portrayed him as a dangerous if petty criminal. Approximately 80 witnesses, many of who maintained they saw police beat and choke the 22-year-old Park Hill resident, were interviewed. Multiple NYPD community affairs officers then walked alongside the protestors. Some neighbors and Sayons family claimed he was beaten to death. The other man was Donald Brown, at 31 nearly a decade older than Mr. Sayon, a police officer who grew up in the same apartment complex in the Clifton section of the island, and in a sense, was back trying to clean up the place he had come from. Those interviewed by the Advance outside the courtroom maintained"the 23-person grand jury contained only about two or three black people. ga('ads.send', { Of the 23 jurors, 19 voted to clear them, one voted to charge Brown with manslaughter and one abstained. Mr. Kadi, known as Stagga Lee, said that when he moved to Park Hill as a teen-ager in 1989, there were few Africans living in the neighborhood. Donald Brownis 59 years old and was born on 04/23/1963. Donald Brown. 0.2 acre . Donald Brown lives in Staten Island, NY; previous city include Bradenton FL. Civil liberties experts, while passing no judgment on the findings, said the secrecy surrounding the grand jury process had left many questions unanswered. 155 Palmer Ave, Staten Island, NY, 10302-2109. So far, Hulu's 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga', created by the RZA and Alex Tse, has been slowly building up what led to the formation. It was not clear how Mr. Sayon suffered the head injury -- a fact that seemed to fuel confusion and anger in the neighborhood. What they faced is what young black men and women face today. Protesters came to the edge of the metal barricades and chanted, hands up, dont shoot.. It is somewhat unusual because their testimony could have been used against them.". eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), As presidential candidates scramble for votes in New York ahead of the state's Tuesday primary, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was given a hero's welcome on Staten Island, greeted Sunday by a. View More Posts. William L. Murphy, the District Attorney of Staten Island, began forming two grand juries yesterday, one to hear evidence only in Mr. Sayon's death. "I would not jump to conclusions and I would ask others not to jump to conclusions either," Mr. Molinari said. . Donald Pagano, a Staten Island-based contractor, said he worked a job in the Trump Tower on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue as a 23-year-old and once rode an elevator with Ivana Trump. Find Dr. Brown's phone number, address, insurance information, hospital affiliations and more. "They called us African booty-scratchers," he said. When police approached the three men, Webb said Rodriguez was handcuffed and another officer questioned Sayon. 2004 - 2008. . 94. So it would be a shame if anybody jumped to conclusions here before at least there was an opportunity to have a full and complete investigation.". Brown, Donald in Staten Island, NY | Photos | Reviews | Based in Staten Island, ranks in the top 99% of licensed contractors in New York. . The Staten Island District Attorney, William L. Murphy, announced that the panel had returned no charges against Officers Donald Brown and Gregg Gerson or Sgt. Most recent obituaries in Staten Island, New York. Born and raised in Rosebank, "Bill". Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. In an interview with Complex, Jenkins says, "Ernest Sayon was someone who is a contemporary, a friend of the Wu-Tang guys growing up in Staten Island. Middle school Application Deadline is today 12/5/22 . The 23-member panel could have brought charges against the officers ranging up to second-degree murder, manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. According to some who have spoken to witnesses, accounts on this matter vary and are not consistent. Twitter @Reimagine44. The officers havent done anything wrong that I could determine at this junction, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. After NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado recommended Officer Daniel Pantaleo be fired for his involvement in Garners death, Police Commissioner James ONeill fired him on Aug 19, 2019. Officer Brown and Mr. Sayon knew each other, at least in the way that a suspected drug dealer and a police officer in a special anti-drug unit in the neighorhood would know each other: as antagonists. They are distraught. "Once again the grand jury process with the local district attorney has left many New Yorkers unsatisfied regarding a high profile death that occurred under circumstances that raise allegations of racism and police brutality," said Norman Siegel, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Donald Barresi Obituary. Dr. Christine Macri is a native Staten Islander who began her veterinary career as an assistant at Dongan Hills Veterinary Practice in 2010. The grand jury -- which met 10 times in the first month of its term and only 10 more times in the succeeding six months -- came under fire for several reasons throughout the six-month prosecution, though. Built in 1925 . This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. The police were making some arrests when, suddenly, there was a loud bang from what turned out to be an M-80 firecracker, thrown from an undisclosed place. . Police Officer Donald Brown plans to defend himself before a grand jury investigating witnesses' charges that he used excessive force in arresting a 22-year-old Staten Island man late last. Choked him to death. Roy Bailey of the Revelation Church of Jesus Christ, situated in a basement at the Park Hill Apartments. The death of Floyd, which resulted in charges of third-degree homicide and manslaughter to be filed against Chauvin, reopened unhealed wounds on Staten Island. The other man was Donald Brown, at 31 nearly a decade older than Mr. Sayon, a police officer who grew up in the same apartment complex in the Clifton section of the island, and in a sense,. Perhaps united by grief over Haze's death, and their struggle for survival, the people of Park Hill and Stapleton finally come together to transform Staten Island into the Shaolin many know as today. ga('ads.send', { Bratton said the department has withdrawn its anti-drug unit from the Park Hill complex, a low-income, largely minority, housing project that is plagued by crime. All rights reserved (About Us). One of the officers, drawing his gun, went to investigate when he spotted Mr. Sayon and another man. MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. "Officer Searls was saying `thats enough, thats enough, put him in the van','' she said. Resides in West Des Moines, IA. Multiple witnesses said the arrest happened on Park Hill Avenue shortly before 6 p.m. that Friday when an M-80 firecracker exploded nearby. Mr. Caruso said Officer Brown believes he acted properly and that with so many witnesses offering condemning accounts, "we want the jurors to hear what the officer has to say, to be convinced of his innocence.". Nelson Mandela was his hero and he waited impatiently for the day when Mr. Mandela would become president of South Africa, a day he did not live to see. He was sentenced to probation for three years. Discord was present in the early days that followed Sayons death, with nearly a dozen arrested and arraigned in early May after a single protest. An internal investigation by the NYPD also cleared the three cops. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 'Very open to the idea': Julia Wandelt takes DNA test to verify if she is missing Swiss girl Livia Schepp, Kayla Lemieux: Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts suspended WITH PAY after pics show her dressed as man, 'We have lots to reveal': Madeleine McCann lookalike Julia Wandelt posts footage of meeting with PI probing claims, Lindsay Clancy case: Psychologist reveals psychosis red flags family members could have spotted, Baby Mia Jade Riley: Parents Lani and Tom Riley speak out after dog attack killed their 5-week-old infant. He was especially credited by community leaders for his participation in the African-American role-model program at the local elementary school, Public School 19. When Haze tries to tell the men to stand down, Officer Steve Marcus (Sullivan Jones) takes offense. Working together, we can find a way forward and create a better Staten Island for all of us.. Coincidentally or not, it was from the roof of that building that the brick that went through the police car windshield was thrown. Having began deliberating in late May, jurors voted to extend its term several times, first extendingit from the end of July to the end of October. "Theres nothing I would have changed,'' he said. Landlines (2) (718) 720-7964 (718) 861-7167 . Anyone can read what you share. Accounts of Witnesses. Have you ever had to fight something bigger than yourselves? }); Most who enjoy the Wu-Tang Clan's music might not know of the struggles the members went through before they came together. This is too much.. But it is Officer Brown who, according to most of the testimony, emerges as the main protagonist. Mr. Holcomb provided a kind of thumbnail biography sketching Officer Brown's trajectory from Park Hill to the police force and back to Park Hill as a police officer. "I never seen him move," Mr. Nurse replied. According to one anonymous juror, two jurors were precluded from voting since they missed substantial testimony, said an Advance report. The officers directly connected with the incident, including Officer Donald Brown, 31; Sgt. . As the march proceeded down Bay Street, dozens of people who gathered at the site of Garners death joined the demonstration, which headed toward the NYPDs 120th Precinct. Staten Island District Attorney William L. Murphy, at the time, said the grand jury believed officers acted appropriately against "a very dangerous man in a very dangerous situation.''. Sayon died as the result of asphyxia by compression of the chest and neck while rear-handcuffed and prone on the ground, Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch said. Just as the Grand Jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo for Garner's death, the same happened with the officers involved with Sayon's death. They want to vindicate the civil rights of their loved one. People Search, Contact Information, Public Records & More. So began the prosecution conducted by State Island'sdistrict attorney, William Murphy, who had then been serving in the position for 11 years at the time. "He never bothered nobody," said Corey Washington, 17, who said he was a close friend of Mr. Sayon. April 17, 2016 / 3:09 PM. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. Johnny Brown. It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Donald Barresi (Staten Island, New York), born in Brooklyn, New York, who passed away on December 26, 2021, at the age of 76, leaving to mourn family and friends. Instead, its role was to decide whether Sayon resisted the officers and whether the police used appropriate force against him. People named Donald Brown. For many who only knew his face as another among many who dealt crack and cocaine from the shadows he was not an angel, not a devil. The official reports say the police heard a gunshot and tried to detain Sayon who resisted. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ "We need the police to come and have sweeps, but with added precautions so we don't have a recurrence of someone being beaten. But Mr. Sayon resisted and he and Officer Brown struggled, the police said. For your freedom? Biomedical Engineering. In this week's episode of Hulu's 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga', we see that story unfurl. "The criminal justice system has spoken, and we should respect its decision. As the afternoon progressed, video posted to Instagram and Twitter showed Justin Williamson, 21, talking directly to officers behind barricades, invoking them to show solidarity amid the nonviolent protest. The U.S. Justice Department concluded that Sayon's civil rights were not violated and the Civilian Complaint Review Board cleared the group of officers after an investigation. let gads_event; Community leaders reiterated charges that the unusual seven-month delay in reaching a decision had been engineered by prosecutors to avert a summer of violence between the police and a neighborhood angered over the death of a black man in police hands. A 22-year-old Clifton man died last night after a struggle with police, sparking a three-mile protest march by residents convinced he was a victim of police brutality, read an Advance story published on April 30, 1994. Ernest Sayon, known locally as Kase, was well known in Park Hill, friendly and warm to those who knew him well, a potentially dangerous troublemaker to the police. Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. Health Facilities; Adult Care Facilities; . Ernest Sayon, 22, died April 29 during a confrontation with police conducting drug sweeps in the borough of Staten Island. There is also no doubt that Mr. Sayon died not long after that arrest. Mobile number (917) 797-4804 . But then there was Mr. Sayon's police record, beginning with a minor conviction in 1992 for turnstile jumping. The Neighborhood Afraid of Crime, And of the Police. hitType: 'event', Calls for a special prosecutor to be named became fervent, with protestors descending to the NYPD headquarters to demand an impartial investigation. "He had his head in a choke-hold. The property is 122 years old, which is 65 year older than the average age of a building in Staten Island 10304HUD says fair market rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in Richmond County is $2,053. Following the verdict, Murphy made clear the grand jury believed the officers acted appropriately against ''a very dangerous man in a very dangerous situation.". The three officers waived immunity ahead of the grand jury indicating the officers confidence that they acted properly. }); }); There also seems to be no disagreement about other aspects of that day. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the . The grand jury -- which met 10 times in the first month of its term and only 10 more times in the succeeding six months, with recesses that went weeks and once extended nearly two months -- heard more than 100 witnesses, saw hundreds of exhibits and heard sharply conflicting accounts of what happened. . Arrested as John Adams. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. Mr. Miller said Mr. Sayon had been out on bail in connection with a shooting at the apartment complex last March. }); A group of Curtis High School students honored black victims of violence including Staten Islander Eric Garner in chalk at the Forest Avenue entrance of Silver Lake Park. Related To Lia Brown, Linda . After the officers heard what they thought was a gunshot, Officer Brown tried to detain Mr. Sayon and a struggle ensued. The next day, Brown said he would not have changed anything about the arrest. The official reports say the police heard a gunshot and tried to detain Sayon who resisted. Let Staten Island be an example for others to follow. Don Brown in Staten Island, NY 28 results - Don Brown may also have lived outside of Staten Island, such as New York, Merrick and Brooklyn. Construction by Donald Rowe (current page) Share Print. A visitation will occur Tuesday, September 27, 2022 from . They chose not to indite the three officers in connection with the case. April 13, 2016 NEW YORK It's the evening rush on the Staten Island Ferry, and Donald Trump's New Yorkers, spent after a day's work in Manhattan, are heading home. June 1, 2020. But Park Hill is a district of gardenless buildings and graffiti, where the wooden slats of the benches have been ripped off, leaving forlorn pairs of concrete supports. The Medical Examiner's office would not comment. }); You know, like walk by and laugh.". He smiles at everybody." About 1:30 A.M., eight gunshots rang out and police began searching rooftops around the area. For example, Mr. Cocola, Mr. Giuliani's representative, who was at Park Hill for five hours on the night of April 29, said "the accounts are very mixed.". Boy Jumps To His Death From School Window, Articles D