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A police sergeant in a suburb of New York City has been indicted on federal civil rights charges, accused of using his stun gun multiple times on a handcuffed man in mental crisis who was being taken involuntarily for medical treatment, prosecutors announced Thursday. Sgt. Mario Stewart, commander of the force in Mount Vernon, fired his taser at the man seven times in two minutes, according to the indictment. Mount Vernon is about 15 miles (20 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. Stewart, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty in an appearance before a federal judge in White Plains on Thursday and was released on personal bond, the attorney said.
NEW YORK — A police sergeant in a New York City suburb has been indicted on federal civil rights charges, accused of using his stun gun multiple times on a handcuffed man in a mental breakdown who was being taken involuntarily for medical treatment, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Sergeant Mario Stewart, the force commander at Mount Vernon, fired his Taser at the man seven times in two minutes, according to the indictment. He is charged with violating the person’s constitutional rights through excessive use of force.
“Stewart’s alleged conduct not only betrayed his duty as an officer to protect those in his charge, but also violated the law,” said US Attorney Damian Williams.
Kevin Conway, Stewart’s attorney, said his client was doing his duty and did not violate anyone’s rights or commit any crime.
“He was simply doing his duty responding to a mental health call for an individual who was in an agitated mental and physical state,” Conway said.
The sergeant and other officers were dispatched to a parking lot in March 2019 to assist a man who was partially nude and appeared to be in distress.
Stewart, who was the supervisor on the scene, gave an order for the man to be handcuffed and lowered to the ground. The officers then tried to put him in a “restraint bag” for transport. But they were only able to get it partially in place, according to the prosecution, because the man was clinging to a strap on the side of the sack.
Stewart told the man to let go, and when he didn’t, fired his stun gun repeatedly, prosecutors said.
At the time, the man was on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs secured in the bag.
Conway said emergency medical personnel had tried unsuccessfully to get the man to agree to be transported for care, and Stewart had no choice but to use non-lethal means.
Stewart, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty in an appearance before a federal judge in White Plains on Thursday and was released on personal bond, the attorney said.
In a statement, the administration of Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, who took office several months after the incident, said that “the alleged conduct that the Justice Department charges predicate is abhorrent and erodes the public’s trust in the hardworking men and women of the Mount Vernon Police Department.”
Mount Vernon is about 15 miles (20 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan.
Emails seeking comment were sent to the police department and the police union.
2023-07-21 16:12:07
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