From [HERE] The NYPD must pay $6.3 million to the family of George Homer Tillman III, who police fatally shot multiple times after he walked away from them during an incident in 2016, a jury decided this week. The jury found that he was unarmed at the time — despite the then-Queens DA declaring the cops only fired in self-defense.

In a wrongful death lawsuit, Tillman’s family says the Maryland man was out on a Saturday night at a family party in South Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens with his friends and wife when he was approached by officers for possessing an open liquor bottle. The lawsuit, citing eyewitness accounts, says he acquiesced to police and relinquished his alcohol container, but that the officers escalated the situation and pursued Tillman when he attempted to return to his car.

Court documents explained when Mr. Tillman turned and handed the bottle of vodka to another man the officers say they saw a silhouette of a gun in Mr. Tillman's waistband.

According to the police and DAKrzeminski and Arnold exited their vehicle and tried to verbally engage with Mr. Tillman, but Mr. Tillman fled. Mr. Tillman ran northbound on 135th Street; Krzeminski and Arnold pursued. Krzeminski and Arnold say that at some point during the chase, they witnessed Mr. Tillman remove his gun and hold it in his right hand, a fact which plaintiff disputes.  

Meanwhile, the car containing the other officers had pulled up to the scene just before Mr. Tillman took off running. Renna, Sorrentino, and Stallone exited their vehicle and began pursuing Mr. Tillman. Upon seeing the other officers, defendants say that Arnold and Krzeminski shouted that Mr. Tillman had a gun.

Once Mr. Tillman reached 116th Avenue, he turned and began running westbound. Defendants claim-but plaintiff disputes-that all five defendants saw Mr. Tillman running with a gun in his right hand.

At this point, the parties' accounts diverge further. Defendants claim that they yelled for Mr. Tillman to “drop the gun” and “get down.” They allege that Mr. Tillman refused and continued running. They allege that he then turned to his left-with his gun still in his right hand-and pointed the gun at Krzeminski. 

Plaintiff disputes that Mr. Tillman possessed a firearm. Plaintiff also denies that Mr. Tillman even turned towards officers, much less aimed a gun at them. Plaintiff relies upon audio-recorded statements of a third-party eyewitness, Leroy Burt. Ibid.; see Recording of Leroy Burt's Conversation with the Force Investigation Division. Mr. Burt said he was looking down from his apartment above the street and “saw everything.” Burt Interview 3:55-4:05. Mr. Burt says that he did not see Mr. Tillman turn towards the officers but instead saw Mr. Tillman begin to walk away from the officers. He also said, “I didn't see a gun.” 

Not a single, non-police witness claimed Mr. Tillman possessed a weapon that night and no one present at the scene heard officers scream at Mr. Tillman to drop any gun. [MORE]  Instead, the officers opened fire, hitting him with more than 10 shots – without a single shot fired by Mr. Tillman. Four of the five cops them discharged 64 rounds, 13 of which hit Tillman in the head and back.

Six months after the April 17, 2016 incident, the Queens district attorney at the time, Richard Brown, a racist suspect, found in a report that the officers acted in self defense. He wrote that the officers believed Tillman had a gun in his waistband when they first approached him about the open container, and that the evidence pointed to an “inescapable conclusion” that Tillman pointed a loaded .40-caliber pistol at the police after they gave chase. Brown also wrote that Tillman's DNA was found on a weapon at the scene.

But eyewitnesses testified that Tillman didn’t have a weapon, according to court documents. Liakas said a video played in court also didn’t show any clear evidence of a weapon.

The day before Thanksgiving, the jury decided that the NYPD acted negligently and violated Tillman’s constitutional rights. It deemed the police response in the case was misconduct and in violation of NYPD protocols. The court awarded Tillman’s widow $5.3 million in compensatory damages and another $1 million in punitive damages.

“Despite the officers receiving commendations following this incident, a jury determined that the officers’ actions violated NYPD protocols and reflected a reckless disregard for Mr. Tillman’s life,” Liakas said.

The NYPD referred comments to the city’s Law Department Saturday.

“We respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict and are evaluating legal options,” law department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci wrote in a statement sent to Gothamist. “In the city’s view, officers were confronted with a deadly threat and their response was justified. That also was the finding of an investigation by the Queens County District Attorney's Office, which found all four officers were justified in discharging their firearms.”

Liakas said normally, the consequence of having an open container of alcohol is a warning or a ticket.

“An open container is like jumping a turnstile,” the attorney said.

Tillman’s widow filed the lawsuit in April 2018, seeking damages for police misconduct, loss of financial support, emotional and psychological damages. Tillman, a union electrician, had been the primary provider for his family — including his wife and their five children, ages of 4-14 — the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleged the officers violated NYPD protocols and failed to use alternative non-lethal means to restrain Tillman, such as the use of batons or Tasers. It said the police violated federal and state laws and disregarded Tillman’s constitutional rights by depriving him of due process and by using excessive force, resulting in his death.

The NYPD argued that any injuries were due to Tillman’s own negligence and not from the officers’ conduct, according to court filings. Police also argued Tillman provoked the incident, and that any use of force was reasonable, necessary and justified under the circumstances, Politico reported at the time.

The jury rejected said claims and did not find the officers testimony to be credible.

Last year, the City of New York paid out nearly $115 million for lawsuits alleging police misconduct, according to the Legal Aid Society.