Bay Shore Man's Wrongful Death Trial Against Suffolk PD Begins: Report

BAY SHORE, NY — A wrongful death trial of a 25-year-old man who died in Suffolk County Police custody in 2008 began Tuesday in federal court, Newsday reported.

The family of Kenny Lazo, who died on April 12, 2008, is seeking $55 million in damages and $100 million in punitive damages in the lawsuit.

Lazo was arrested by police following a traffic stop near Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore.

Marc Lindemann, lawyer for Suffolk County and police, said Lazo had gotten into an altercation with police near an exit ram, and had been under surveillance in his blue Cadillac because of suspected drug dealing that night. After police pulled him over, Lazo elbowed one officer, reached for an officer’s gun, and tried to flee as they tackled him, Newsday reported.

The scuffle was so intense, one officer bit Lazo in the buttocks to try to subdue him, Lindemann said. They had to double handcuff him. Police found 40 grams of cocaine and $2,000 on Lazo, Lindemann said.

The lawyer also claimed that Lazo, who was 5-foot-6 and weighed 250 pounds, suffered a heart attack after he resisted police attempts to subdue him.

But Frederick Brewington, who represents Lazo's family, claims he died due to police brutality, Lazo and was allegedly, “beaten to death” with heavy flashlights.

Brewington said Lazo was face down on the side of the road during the encounter with police, which took place at about 8 p.m., Newsday reported. When he was taken to Third Precinct headquarters, he was not asked if he needed medical attention, Brewington said. He was stripped down to his underwear, still handcuffed.

At about 9 p.m., Lazo was found unresponsive on the floor of a holding cell. At about 9:25 p.m., he was taken to Southside Hospital, Brewington said.

An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County medical examiner determined that Lazo died from cardiac arrest "following exertion associated with physical altercation with multiple blunt impacts”, Newsday reported. It also concluded that obesity was a factor in Lazo's death.

A Suffolk County grand jury declined to bring charges against the five officers in November 2008, seven months after Lazo’s death.

The lawsuit names the county and the police department as defendants, as well as the police officers it accuses of arresting and fatally beating Lazo: John Newton, James Scimone, William Judge, Christopher Talt and Joseph Link. Former Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, who died in 2019, is listed as a defendant.

The lawsuit was filed in March 2009, almost a year after Lazo’s death, by the administrators of his estate: his mother, Patricia Gonzalez, and Jennifer Gonzalez, the mother of his now-adult son, Kenny Lazo Jr.

Patch reached out to Brewington's and Lindemann's offices for more information.