Ballston Spa

The attorney for the family of Daniel Carl Satre has asked the state to take over the investigation of the unarmed man's death in a confrontation with police.

Terence Kindlon said he wrote to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman after the state's top prosecutor last week proposed that the governor issue a temporary executive order directing the attorney general to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians.

That action came amid nationwide protests after police were cleared in the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Staten Island man who died after police placed him in a chokehold. Protests also erupted after an officer was cleared in the shooting death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot by police in Cleveland while carrying a toy gun.

Kindlon said Saratoga County police officials and the district attorney's office work too closely together for an objective investigation.

"At most, he (Satre) was guilty of disorderly conduct on his own front lawn and ended up dead. This needs to be properly investigated by an outside agency," Kindlon said.

Ballston Spa police received a report on the night of Sept. 21 of a man screaming and walking in traffic on Saratoga Avenue, near Satre's home.

Two village officers arrived to find a distraught Satre, and called for backup.

Two officers from the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office and two state troopers arrived, and all six tried to take Satre into custody for disorderly conduct. When he struggled and resisted, he was repeatedly shocked with a stun gun.

Satre passed out and could not be revived.