NAACP Gets Invoved in Curtis Good Shooting by Police.
- Originally Published in the Home News Tribune 8/24/04 [here
]
By KEN SERRANO
and SUZANNE C. RUSSELL
Gwendolyn Good is still looking for answers in the death of her 41-year-old brother, who was shot by a city police officer early Friday.
"They tell us they're trying to get (the investigation) over and done with as fast as possible so we can get some closure," Good said. "But they're telling us nothing."
Meanwhile, the city chapter of the NAACP plans to conduct its own investigation into the fatal shooting of Curtis Good by a city patrolman. And family and friends plan to hold what they referred to as a peaceful protest march at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. Friday.
Patrolman Carmen Fazzolari, 45, went to the apartment of Good's girlfriend at King and Smith streets on a report that Good was destroying the home, authorities said.
Another officer, David Sanchez, arrived two minutes behind Fazzolari and spoke with the man who had called the police, the 18-year-old son of Good's girlfriend, authorities said.
Inside the apartment alone with Good, Fazzolari fired eight shots from his .45-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol, striking Good with six of them, authorities said. Good was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. at the Perth Amboy Division of Raritan Bay Medical Center, authorities said.
The shooting took place inside the bedroom. Authorities said furniture had been overturned and panels had been ripped from the walls.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, at a press conference Friday, declined to say what led Curtis Good to destroy the apartment or whether any weapons were found in the home. Family members said they have not heard from the girlfriend, Nicole Larmonie, since shortly after the shooting. She could not be reached yesterday.
Investigators are awaiting toxicology reports on Curtis Good to broaden the picture of what took place. Those results take weeks, sometimes months, to receive, Kaplan said.
Authorities released little new information yesterday on the shooting.
Kaplan said Fazzolari and Larmonie have been questioned, but he declined to discuss the interviews, citing the ongoing investigation.
Fazzolari, 45, an 18-year department veteran, remains on administrative leave. He may be brought back and placed on desk duty, but the time for that has yet to be decided, said city Police Chief Michael Kohut.
Gwendolyn Good and other family members remembered Curtis Good as a devoted family man and a small-time entrepreneur working various business ventures.
Curtis Good had two children, Quincy, 11, and Aaliyah, 5. Both live with their mother in Edison.
He was co-owner of Jersey Jerzees, a Plainfield-based athletic wear business, and recently obtained licensing to sell used cars in Woodbridge, Gwendolyn Good said.
On the side, he worked as a party disc jockey under the name D.J. Goodbar
"He had been doing that since he was 12 years old," she said.
Other family members are struggling to come to grips with how a man they described as mild-mannered met such a violent end.
Leon Bradford, Curtis Good's brother, a 56-year-old retired international representative for the United Auto Workers from Detroit, said he can't understand why the police officer walked into the apartment alone on a domestic violence call.
"Why did he have to put himself in jeopardy like that. He could have stayed outside the apartment or waited for back-up. They could have talked Curtis out," he said.
"They haven't told us nearly enough," said Harry Bradford, 55, another of Curtis Good's brothers, who owns an auto-body shop in Plainfield. He said authorities keep referring him elsewhere. "Sometimes I feel like I'm spinning around in a circle."
The NAACP is also looking for answers.
"Although the mayor of Perth Amboy has reassured us that there will be a full investigation of this tragedy, the Perth Amboy area NAACP intends to do their own investigation also. We intend to make sure that there is a fair, complete and thorough investigation into how this could have happened," said Gloria McCoy, chapter president, who was contacted by the family for support.
McCoy said too often African Americans are shot and killed, and the incidents, whereever they occur, are swept under the rug. She said sometimes the shootings may not be the police officer's fault.
In the Good case, McCoy said the NAACP is seeking a fair and complete investigation to determine the truth.
"I don't know what the truth is," said McCoy, who plans to attend tomorrow's march to honor the life of Curtis Good. The march is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on King Street and end at police headquarters, 351 Rector Street, at the intersection with Fayette Street.
"We really are concerned," said McCoy, who visited with some of Good's family members over the weekend. "We want to know what happened."
McCoy said she wants to sit down with Mayor Joseph Vas and Police Director Michael Kohut, who also serves as police chief, to get answers as soon as possible.
A spokesman for Vas said the mayor is receptive to meeting with the NAACP, which became involved shortly after the shooting occurred. The mayor also met with the family over the weekend, his office said.