Bystander injured in NYPD shooting on Brooklyn subway platform plans to sue city for $80 million

NEW YORK – A spectator who was hit by a bullet when NYPD officers opened fire at a subway station in Brooklyn in September plans to sue the city for $80 million.

In the legal claim, a lawyer is required for Gregory DelpecheThe 49-year-old accuses officers of “negligence and reckless” disregard for the lives of bystanders when they shot at a suspected fare evader who police said was holding a knife.

Delpeche suffered a brain injury when he was hit by a bullet while riding the L train to his job at a Brooklyn hospital, according to the lawsuit, which is the first step toward filing a lawsuit against the city.

Bystander was hit in the head when NYPD officers opened fire on a subway platform

The Sept. 15 incident began when police officers confronted 37-year-old Derell Mickles at the Sutter Avenue train station for jumping the turnstile. Show body camera footage Mickles obeys police officers’ orders to leave while holding an open knife at his side.

About 10 minutes later, video shows Mickles returning and standing next to an NYPD officer at the station’s emergency door for several minutes. After someone walks through the door, Mickles is seen walking through the door to enter the station, followed by Mickles two NYPD officers.

The officers follow Mickles to the platform, where they repeatedly ask to see his hands and ask him to drop the knife. Mickles holds his hands behind his back and repeatedly says, “Leave me alone.”

During the interaction, an L train pulls into the station and the video shows Mickles boarding the train, followed by the two officers who continue to order him to put the knife away while Mickles hides his hands behind his back. The officers then used a Taser, but it did not appear to have any effect on Mickles. At this point in the video, the knife can be seen in Mickle’s hand again.

Mickles then runs onto the platform and the officers follow him. The two officers then fired their weapons a total of nine times. Mickles, one of the officers, a 26-year-old woman and Delpeche were all struck by bullets.

The injured passerby remains hospitalized more than two weeks after the shooting, the attorney said

The legal notice, filed Thursday by attorney Nick Liakas, alleges that Delpeche was hit because of the officers’ “negligence and reckless disregard for the lives, privileges and rights of others” and seeks $80 million in compensation.

It states that he “currently suffers from multiple cognitive deficits, including deficits in his ability to speak and form words” and “remains confined to a hospital bed at a Level 1 trauma center.”

Liakas said that since the Sept. 15 shooting, Delpeche has been able to communicate “in few words, but with difficulty and delays.”

The city’s legal department declined to comment.

Police officers have defended the officers’ actions. New York Police Chief John Chell previously described the shooting as a “tragic situation” and said: “We did our best to protect our lives and the lives of the people on that train.”

Mickles pleaded not guilty from his hospital bed to charges including attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, threatening a public servant, possession of a firearm and evading his subway fare.