Shocking footage played in court showed the moment first responders said that Jordan Neely still had a pulse after former marine Daniel Penny put the troubled homeless man in a chokehold on a Manhattan subway last year.
The chaotic bodycam footage, which captured two police officers confirming that an unconscious Neely still had a pulse when they arrived at Fulton Station on May 1, 2023, was shown to jurors in Penny’s manslaughter trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“I feel a pulse,” one officer said, as a second officer confirmed that Neely “has a pulse” before he later died.
Moments later one officer could be heard saying, “He’s not breathing.”
Medics could be seen in the video attempting to resuscitate Neely through chest compressions, CPR, a defibrillator machine and an injection of Narcan.
The dramatic footage was played as NYPD Officer Teodoro Tejada testified as the trial’s first witness Friday.
The officer told prosecutors that Neely initially had a “faint pulse” when first responders arrived – but that officers could no longer find a pulse minutes later.
Tejada also searched Neely for weapons but only found a muffin in his jacket.
A composed Penny could be seen calmly standing next to Neely’s unconscious body casually chewing something that may have been gum, according to the footage.
Penny, 26, is accused of putting Neely, 30, in a fatal chokehold for more than six minutes on a crowded F train after the homeless man burst onto the locomotive “acting erratically and menacingly” toward other passengers.
Penny, who faces up to 15 years behind bars, could also be heard in the video telling responding officers that he “put [Neely] down.”
Additional footage taken from the body camera of NYPD Officer Dennis Kang showed the cop yelling, “My man! Stay with me… yo!” as he furiously shook Neely’s stomach in an attempt to jolt him awake.
“I did feel a pulse a few times, but initially I didn’t feel a pulse… around the third time, I did feel a slight pulse,” Kang testified during direct examination, adding that he gave Neely sternum rubs and didn’t administer rescue breaths despite never seeing Neely breathe.
He testified that officers didn’t have the proper equipment when they arrived at the scene.
Bodycam of NYPD Sgt. Carl Johnson showed officers from a different angle giving Neely chest compressions before EMS workers arrived.
Johnson told the court he ordered Narcan during the chaotic scene, claiming that Neely was an “apparent drug user and he was very dirty.”
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.
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