John Antoine, an 86 year old man from Brooklyn, is suing the city after he was wrongfully tasered by the NYPD responding to a call about a suicidal man in his 20s.
“It is scary to think that our police force has such a lack of communication amongst each other,” said lawyer Scott Rynecki, who notified the city that he intends to file a $5 million lawsuit alleging that John Antoine, the lucky-to-be-alive octogenarian, was the victim of excessive force and was falsely charged with harassment.
Antoine was in the kitchen, holding a knife in one hand and an onion in the other, when cops burst into his Bergen St. apartment Oct. 14, according to the notice of claim. A pot of soup was simmering on the stove.
“What makes this more outrageous is that members of the Police Department were given information that the situation they were called to involved a 23-year-old male,” Rynecki said. “And they were in possession of that individual’s name.”
The cops were supposed to be looking for the 23-year-old boyfriend of Antoine’s granddaughter, who was said to be acting emotionally disturbed after he ran out of his meds.
