NYPD officer in chokehold death identified, placed on modified duty

The New York City Police Department has identified one of the officers involved in the death of a Staten Island man who was allegedly placed in a chokehold during an arrest earlier this week.

Daniel Pantaleo has been placed on “modified duty,” according to a statement issued by the NYPD.

On Friday, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said two officers were under investigation in the death of Eric Garner, who died after he was allegedly placed in a chokehold by police during a crackdown on the sale of untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island on Thursday.

Bratton has not identified the other officer, but a law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times the second officer’s name is Justin D’Amico.

Patrick Lynch, president of the city’s largest police union, blasted the NYPD’s treatment of Pantaleo as reactionary and politically motivated.

“The department’s modification of this police officer under these circumstances is a completely unwarranted, knee-jerk reaction for political reasons and nothing more,” Lynch said in a statement.

Lynch continued: “It is a decision by the department that effectively pre-judges this case and denies the officer the very benefit of a doubt that has long been part of the social contract that allows police officers to face the risks of this difficult and complex job. It is a bad decision by the department that is absolutely wrong.”

Garner’s death made national headlines after a video showed him crumple to the ground while an officer had him in an apparent chokehold. He can be heard pleading “I can’t breathe” as another officer holds him down.

The 43-year-old’s death sparked citywide outrage, and the Rev. Al Sharpton led hundreds of people in a Saturday afternoon march on the city’s 120th precinct, which patrols the neighborhood where Garner died.

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