(UPDATE: Report: Video shows police put man in chokehold while trying to arrest him)



By RYAN LAVIS, JOHN M. ANNESE and MIRA WASSEF

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Amid calls of police brutality and racism from witnesses and social media users, law enforcement sources maintain that the man who died following an incident with police in Tompkinsville on Thursday afternoon "absolutely resisted arrest" prior to his death.

The man, identified by police as Eric Garner, 43, of Bond Street in Port Richmond, was pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, following the incident, which took place at the intersection of Victory Boulevard and Bay Street at about 4:45 p.m.

Witnesses say Garner was trying to break up a fight in front of a beauty supply store on the corner of Bay and Victory. Garner, who was taller than 6 feet and weighed at least 350 pounds, was a fixture in the neighborhood who often sold loose cigarettes for 50 cents each.



The incident sparked calls of police brutality as residents hung handwritten posters with phrases like "no justice, no peace" and "Another innocent black man has been killed by police brutality. The NYPD must be stopped!" on telephone poles near the scene about an hour after the incident.

One witness, Valencia Griffin, said she saw two men fighting outside of the beauty supply shop at 202 Bay St. in Tompkinsville. Garner, she said, tried to play peacemaker.

"He [the victim] tried to break up the fight -- the two guys fighting, they saw the cops coming and walked away," Ms. Griffin said.

"All I kept hearing from him was, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,'" Ms. Griffin said. "He never fought back -- he didn't know why they were arresting him."

Police sources familiar with the investigation said, though, that the officers were trying to arrest Garner because they saw him selling untaxed cigarettes, which he had done in the past. He was known to police as a fighter, sources said, and had been known to sell drugs, not just cigarettes.

"He absolutely resisted arrest. He took a fighting stance," one police source said.

A Daily News video released of the incident shows police confronting Garner. When Garner refused to put his hands behind his back, a plainclothes officer put him in a chokehold, the Daily News reported.

At 10 p.m., the NYPD's press office issued the following statement about Garner's death:

"On Thursday, July 17, 2014 at approximately 1648 hours, police observed a 43-year-old male selling untaxed cigarettes in front of 202 Bay Street within the confines of the 120 Precinct. Upon attempting to arrest the suspect for the violation, the suspect went into cardiac arrest and was transported by EMS to Richmond University Medical Center where he was pronounced DOA. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing."

The Advance has obtained video showing Garner lying on the ground, surrounded by officers. "Please try to give him some air," one of the officers said as he attempted to keep a crowd of onlookers away.

Officers could be seen checking the man's pulse as he lay motionless on the sidewalk.

Public records show Garner was out on $4,000 bond or $2,000 cash bail -- he has three pending criminal cases against him, all involving charges of possession and sale of untaxed cigarettes, from arrests in May, March and last August. In the August case, police also charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, false personation and marijuana possession.

The Rev. Lloyd Land, of the First United Christian Church, described Garner as a "gentle giant" and said his death makes no sense.

"This guy was nobody's drug dealer. He doesn't drink liquor. He doesn't do drugs. What he does is he sells cigarettes," Rev. Land said. "He sells cigarettes, 50 cents a piece. That's how he makes a living."

He added, "He was a gentle giant. Insofar as violence, I don't believe if you smack him in the face he would hit you back ... The police have no reason to attack him."

Friends of the victim, who knew him around the neighborhood as "Big E," placed candles spelling out his nickname in front of the store where the altercation occurred.



Ms. Griffin and several other witnesses told the Advance they saw police tackle the victim to the ground and cuff him on the pavement.



"The cops slammed him to the ground and threw the handcuff on him," said one witness, Taisha Allen. "I saw saliva and blood coming out the side of his mouth. It was awful that something like this had to happen."



Vigils for the victim popped up soon after the incident occurred, with people in the neighborhood recalling the victim as someone they have seen around the area for years.



"Everybody that knows him will tell you that he's a wonderful person," said Charlene Thomas, 64, who knew the victim from when she worked in a deli a few stores down from where Thursday's incident occurred.



"I would hug him every day. He was like a big teddy bear," she said.