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In November last year, Yonkers resident Jonathan Maldonado - Yonkers City Council President Mike Khader’s nephew - died after being tasered by police following an incident at Best Buy on Central Avenue in Hartsdale.
At approximately 5:50 p.m. on Nov. 29, police said that officers were called to the Best Buy location following reports of a larceny in progress. Upon arrival, officers allegedly found Maldonado struggling with Best Buy security officials near Webb Field. Police officers were forced to use a taser to subdue him, he was then handcuffed.
Maldonado allegedly ingested several packets of an undisclosed substance before he was apprehended.
While in handcuffs, police said that Maldonado began to lose consciousness, and was treated by officers and EMS at the scene. He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital an hour later. Three officers suffered minor injuries during the scuffle.
In response, according to a lohud report, his mother, Nancy Maldonado, has filed the lawsuit, blaming 10 police officers and three paramedics. Last December, attorneys for Maldonado’s family said that police “violently mishandled the situation” that led to his death.
The report states that the lawyers are now contending that Maldonado didn’t resist the officers before being Tasered. The lawsuit also alleges that Maldonado didn’t receive CPR for several minutes.
On Wednesday, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner questioned why the lawsuit was even being filed, citing the findings of Maldonado’s autopsy.
“I had spoken with the Police Chief (Christopher McNerney) today. He indicated the autopsy found that Mr. Maldonado died because of the heroin and drugs he took, not because of the police,” Feiner wrote in an email. “I believe that the lawsuit will not be successful and am surprised that it is even being filed.”
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