Ronald Singleton’s Death Ruled Homicide At Hands Of NYPD
The death of a 45-year-old man who was high on PCP while in police custody has been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said Friday.
The coroner said Ronald Singleton’s July 13 death in Midtown was brought on by “physical restraint by police during excited delirium.”
The medical examiner also said heart disease and obesity contributed to the Kips Bay man’s death.
Singleton had 61 arrests on his record, including busts for drugs, assaults and weapons possession.
His heartbroken wife, Lyn Warren Singleton, 44, admitted that her husband of 19 years had a drug history and multiple run-ins with the police. The 5-foot-7, 210-pound man “went into a panic” when cops approached him, she said.
“He was never good with police,” she said. “He always went into hysterics — this is before he even started indulging.”
Similar to the Eric Garner, Singleton’s wife says the NYPD failed to administer medical treatment when he claimed he was having a heart attack.
“They didn’t pay attention to him when he was crying for help,” she said. “Someone having a heart attack is different signs than someone just bugging out.”
On the day he died, Singleton was acting “overly irate and irrational” in the back of a taxi near St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Ave. and E. 51st St., police said.
The cabbie flagged cops down after Singleton cursed and screamed at him during the 12 a.m. altercation. When Singleton tried to fight off arriving officers, cops restrained him, putting him in a protective full-body wrap known as a burrito. He was not arrested, police said.
An ambulance was taking Singleton to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation when he went into cardiac arrest, officials said. It was immediately redirected to St. Luke’s—Roosevelt Hospital, where Singleton died.
Cops don’t care whether we live or die. Cotdamn shame.
