The city has agreed to a $2 million settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit of a Brooklyn man who was mowed down by an NYPD radio car chasing him for stealing rocks, the Daily News has learned.
It has been more than two years since Tamon Robinson was fatally struck in April 2012 outside the Bayview Houses in Canarsie and the incident is still under investigation by the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
“Mr. Robinson’s family does not want this to end here,” said lawyer Scott Rynecki of the law firm Rubenstein & Rynecki. “More important to this family than the settlement is to see these police officers held criminally accountable.”
The official police accident report contended that the radio car was stopped on a footpath when Robinson, 27, ran into it causing him to fall backward and suffer a head injury. Multiple witnesses came forward to dispute that account, according to the lawyers. Sgt. Miguel Cueto and Officer Volkan Uretener were attempting to stop Robinson for allegedly stealing paving stones from the grounds of the housing project. They were questioned under oath for the civil case and claimed they did not actually see Robinson strike their vehicle.
Robinson’s mother Laverne Dobbinson told The News that she has seen detectives taking photographs at the scene twice in the last few weeks. “I want these officers dealt with, they killed my son,” Dobbinson said.
“We believe this is a fair and reasonable settlement,” said a Law Department spokeswoman.
