But it's O.K., readers. They let him out!
'Course, if it were you or me, we'd be charged with murder!
Alas, that's life in Fascista AmeriKa, 2007!!!!
"Officials Defend Release of Police Officer Who Surrendered in Road-Rage Shooting" by AL BAKER
The Manhattan district attorney’s office yesterday defended its decision to release an off-duty police officer who implicated himself in a fatal road-rage shooting — even though he fled the scene of the killing — saying that the officer’s claim of self-defense was enough to free him while a grand jury reviews potential charges.
The district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, was questioned about why the undercover police officer, Sean Sawyer, was not charged after he turned himself in on Monday, 19 hours after the shooting in Upper Manhattan.
Mr. Morgenthau: “Where there is a claim of self-defense, as there is in this case, there is usually no immediate arrest.”
[Pfffft!]
The shooting victim, Jayson Tirado, 25, was killed in a road-rage encounter early Sunday after a chase on First Avenue involving his purple Honda Civic and a yellow Nissan Xterra driven by Officer Sawyer, 34. When Mr. Tirado pulled in front of the Xterra and gestured as if he had a gun — though he was actually unarmed — shots were fired, according to one of Mr. Tirado’s two passengers.
Officer Sawyer turned himself in early Monday and was released by the authorities around 8:30 that night. His release angered Mr. ’s friends and relatives.
Mr. Tirado’s mother, Irene, 54, asked yesterday:
“Why couldn’t he say, ‘Stop,’ and pull to the side like a normal policeman?”
['Cause they're all a bunch of Robo-cops, huh? Poor man's Rambos?]
She sat on a couch surrounded by photos of her son in the apartment they had shared at the Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village.
She said she understood that Officer Sawyer must have a “demanding and scary” job, but she questioned why he would fire a gun and then flee:
“I don’t want to know him; I don’t want to forgive him. I don’t want him to be a policeman ever again.”
[I'm right with you, Mom!]
Officer Sawyer has made no official statements to the police or to prosecutors, but he made his first public comments to reporters yesterday as he left his apartment in Upper Manhattan.
Sawyer, in a near-whisper while walking out of his front door at 1:30 p.m.:
“Of course I feel bad about it. The guy was a human being.”
[Well, you feel that way NOW!
Why didn't you think of that THEN, asshole!]
He called the events “personal.” Dressed in a red T-shirt and khaki pants, he walked north along Central Park West carrying a black bag and a children’s math textbook. (He is married and has two sons.)
Officer Sawyer added: “It was a loss of life. I wish it would have been different.”
He then boarded a northbound C subway train.
[And is getting on with life, huh?
Something he took from Mr. Tirado?]
One law enforcement official provided new details yesterday of the confrontation, saying that it was Officer Sawyer who first threatened violence.
According to the official, Officer Sawyer asked Mr. Tirado and his passengers, then added a racial epithet:
“Don’t you know how to drive? I’m going to have to cap one of you.”
The officer is black, and Mr. Tirado and his two passengers are Hispanic.
Still, prosecutors said there was evidence that Officer Sawyer was possibly justified when he fired at the Honda. Officials said that idea was reinforced by the account of a passenger in Mr. Tirado’s car, Jason Batista, 21, who has said in interviews that after Officer Sawyer’s threat, Mr. Tirado hinted that he had a gun, and even pointed his finger in a firing motion.
[That's what the COVERING-UP prosecutor and cops have to say, huh?
The fucking cops are NOT YOUR FRIENDS, America!
Look at 'em CLOSE RANKS, rather than PURSUE the TRUTH!
That justifies MURDER, huh?
A gesture? Sig Heil!]
Prosecutors said it was not unusual to delay charges in a homicide case, especially if there was a claim that the shooting was justified. One hypothetical example, officials said, would be when a store owner shoots a robber.
[Yeah, this is SOP in a MURDER!
How much SHIT you gonna EAT, Amurkns!!!
And it is NOT the SAME THING, assholes!!!!]
The decision to let Officer Sawyer go followed a 16-hour drama at the 25th Precinct station house in Harlem, where he was taken after turning himself in about 1 a.m. on Monday. The officer, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, was placed in a windowless second-floor interrogation room, according to a law enforcement official.
Other officers sought legal representation for Officer Sawyer, and Richard Murray, a lawyer who is on contract with the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, soon arrived. His presence stopped anyone from questioning Officer Sawyer, the law enforcement official said.
Officer Sawyer had already told snippets of his story when he turned himself in. He told two officers on the street that he was feeling ill because he had believed he might have killed a man, and he offered his gun — a Glock semiautomatic — as the possible weapon in the case.
[Yeah, AFTER he UNLOADED into the CAR!
Pffffftttt!!!!]
Julie Nobel, a prosecutor in Mr. Morgenthau’s office, arrived after Mr. Murray and saw him at Officer Sawyer’s side, an investigator said. She never spoke to Officer Sawyer but interviewed some of the witnesses in the case, the investigator said.
Then she left to draw up search warrants: The police towed Officer Sawyer’s Nissan Xterra from outside his home on West 102nd Street, and four detectives carted some of his clothes out of his fifth-floor apartment so they could be tested for powder burns.
It was decided that because he was a police officer and had turned himself in, he would be released, though he would be suspended without pay and stripped of his gun and badge. The officer was allowed to slip quietly from the station house about 8:30 p.m., a law enforcement official said.
[Yeah, but that is Standard Operating Procedure!
LYING FUCKING COPS PROTECTING ONE of their OWN!
"To Protect and Serve... THEMSELVES!!!!!!"]
A law enforcement official who asked not to be quoted by name because he is not authorized to speak about the case:
“The last thing you want to do is take any precipitous action in a case like this because there might be a self-defense claim.”
[Unless the person is a civilian; then you can do whatever you like, right, cop?
Taser them, perhaps?]
Officer Sawyer — whose badge number is 1160 — was older than most recruits when he joined the Police Department in January 2004. But he was moved quickly into the undercover ranks, joining the Queens narcotics division a year ago. He had never been involved in a shooting.
Christopher Sawyer, his brother:
“It’s the first time he ever pulled his gun, it’s the first time he ever shot someone.”
[And hopefully, the LAST!!!!
And he certainly wasn't acting like it was the first time, LIAR!!!!!!]
It is not unusual for a minority officer to quickly join the department’s undercover operations.
One investigator said:
“A minority guy, or an undercover guy who fits in, might be more likely to succeed.”
[Gee, is this article ever SLANTED TOWARD SYMPATHY for the COP, huh?
But the shit Times is unbiased, right?
Pffffftttttt!!]
Before joining the force, Officer Sawyer and his brother had been trying to break into the hip-hop and rhythm and blues side of the music industry, said a neighbor and childhood friend.
Another neighbor said the officer moved to the building on West 102nd Street when he was about 8 and was “a really great kid — no trouble.”
[Yeah, he's a great guy! You know, Saddam was a "really great kid," too!!!!]
The police, meanwhile, released more details of the road-rage chase.
[Oh, now he CHASED THEM?!?
Why didn't you SAY THAT BEFORE, Times?
Oh, man, what SHIT REPORTING!!!!!!!]
As the two vehicles were forced off the southbound Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive at 116th Street by an earlier motorcycle accident, Mr. Tirado would not allow the officer to merge, the police said. When the traffic cleared, the officer pulled up to the Honda and yelled at its occupants — and made the remark about having to “cap” — or shoot — someone.
[So he DESERVED to DIE 'cause he DIDN'T MAKE WAY for the COP?
Talk about a guy DRUNK on POWER!!!!
Sig Heil!!]
Officer Sawyer then sped off ahead of the Honda. But Mr. Tirado chased him, pulled his car in front of Officer Sawyer’s Nissan and hit the brakes, coming to a stop. At that point, Mr. Tirado said, “You want to see the new Ruger I got under my seat?” referring to a make of a semiautomatic handgun, law enforcement officials said.
[Oh, this is the LAW ENFORCEMENT account, 'ey?
Translation: A LIE!!!!]
Mr. Tirado made a shooting motion with his hand, as if he was pointing a weapon back and to his right at Officer Tirado.
From the driver’s seat in the Nissan, Officer Sawyer fired two or three bullets, the police said. It is unclear where Officer Sawyer had his gun holstered and when he took his gun out and readied it for shooting.
[You don't know? Another fucking COP LIE?
Didn't you DO A BALLISTICS on HIS GUN?
So you would KNOW HOW MANY SHOTS were fired because HIS BROTHER said this was the ONLY TIME Sawyer has ever DISCHARGED HIS GUN!!!
Good God!
SICK of the AUTHORITIES LIES!!!]
One thing was clear yesterday: Officer Sawyer’s undercover career is gone for good."
[GOOD!!!!!!
Fucking MURDERER!!!!]
