Cops Sue NYPD For Harlem Precinct Legionnaires' Outbreak: Report

EAST HARLEM, NY — Two police officers who fell ill with Legionnaires Disease while on the job in 2017 are suing the NYPD for the suffering caused by the sickness, according to reports.

Daniel Waitkevitch, 45, and Clarck Desire, 47, were diagnosed with the disease — caused by the Legionella bacteria — both filed lawsuits against the NYPD in Manhattan Supreme Court this week, the Daily News first reported.

Both officers were assigned to the 23rd Precinct in East Harlem when they came down with Legionnaires Disesase in June 2017, the Daily News reported. Waitkevitch has been on disability since the diagnosis and had to receive kidney transplant surgery, according to the report. Desire is still working but has suffered pulmonary issues, weakness and pain since his diagnosis, the Daily News reported.

The 23rd Precinct station is located on East 102nd Street between Lexington and Third avenues.

A spokesman for the city Law Department told Patch that the city will review both cases, but declined to comment further.

Legionnaires' symptoms include fever, cough, chills, muscle aches, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, confusion and diarrhea and generally surface two to 10 days after contact with the bacteria Legionella. Common culprits in the spread of the Legionella bacteria include cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks, and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, the Department of Health said.

Read the full Daily News story here.

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