Dwayne Pritchett, 48

Bronx, New York
January 28, 2018

Agencies: New York Police Department NYPD

Cause of death: Not Yet Known

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Last updated: almost 6 years ago

Overview

According to police, Dwayne Pritchett died in police custody Sunday after he tried to grab a cop’s gun while cuffed in his apartment, then lost consciousness as officers subdued him. Herman Garment, who shared the one-bedroom apartment with Mr. Pritchett’s father, said he watched the encounter unfold and never saw the son reach for a police officer’s gun or heard the officers mention any such attempt.

When officers arrived at the Reservoir Ave. apartment in Jerome Park just after 4:50 p.m., a 71-year-old man told them his son, who cops later identified as Dwayne Pritchett, 48, was refusing to come out of his bedroom.

The son suddenly opened the door in the third-floor apartment, and cops saw a handgun magazine on the floor, according to police.

They entered the room and cuffed him, but Pritchett tried to grab an officer’s gun from its holster, authorities said.

After pulling Mr. Pritchett out of the bedroom, the officers laid him on the living room floor between Mr. Garment’s bed and the couch, the roommate said. Surrounding him, one officer put a knee on Mr. Pritchett as his hands were cuffed behind his back. Mr. Pritchett squirmed to his side, grunted and spit at the officers, prompting them to put a mask on his face, according to Mr. Garment.

After a short time, Mr. Garment said, an officer noticed that Mr. Pritchett was not breathing and the mask had fogged up. Emergency medical technicians worked on him for almost 30 minutes, continuing as he was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance.

The incident took place at a Reservoir Ave. apartment in Jerome Park on Sunday, cops said. It wasn’t immediately clear how Pritchett was subdued, though sources said the officers did not use a Taser.

Cops found drug paraphernalia and a gun in his bedroom, sources said.

“Be advised, the EDP (emotionally disturbed person) is having a mental episode. He locked himself in the bedroom. He is not on his medication. No weapons,” a police radio dispatcher told arriving officers assigned to the 50th Precinct.

Legal Action

On Wednesday February 7, 2018, the state attorney general’s office announced a probe into the death of Pritchett.