Advocates Demand Firing Of Cop Who Tased 85lb Man

STATEN ISLAND, NY — Lawyers and advocates on Wednesday called on the NYPD to fire the Staten Island cop caught on video last month beating and tasing an 85-pound-man in his home.

Officer Vincenzo Trabolse was one of about nine officers who barged into William Colon’s Cottage Lane apartment on a domestic disturbance call on Sept. 28, Colon's Legal Aid Society lawyers say. Trabolse punched the 4-foot-8 Colon — who suffers from a host of health problems — in the ribs and zapped him with a stun gun as he was pinned against a bed, cellphone video of the ordeal shows.

Cops like Trabolse who "tarnish the badge" with such brutal arrests shouldn't be allowed to stay on the force — and the other officers who stood by shouldn't escape accountability either, said Christopher Pisciotta, the attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid's Staten Island criminal defense practice.

"Other mothers should not have to deal with a similar nightmare such as myself," said Colon's mother, Sonia Adorno. "If the NYPD wants to get this right, they should terminate officer Trabolse’s employment immediately."

"Staten Islanders, especially those from communities of color who the police like to profile and target, are not safe with him on NYPD payroll," she added.

Colon was arrested and charged with assault after he and his ex-girlfriend got in an argument over a birthday gift she'd given him, his lawyers have said. The woman had left the apartment when the officers came in and roughed up Colon, who can be heard in the video shouting, "I didn't do nothing."

Colon spent five days in the hospital after the arrest, which Pisciotta said could have been fatal given his many health issues. He has diabetes, scoliosis, asthma and Mauriac syndrome, a rare diabetes complication that causes dwarfism.

Trabolse has remained on duty as the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau investigates the arrest. The Police Department did not directly address the calls to fire him Wednesday but said the incident "remains under review."

"The District Attorney reviewed and upheld the charges against William Colon," Det. Sophia Mason, an NYPD spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Eight body worm cameras at the scene show officers responding to a domestic violence call."

Police accused Colon of punching his ex-girlfriend in the face, according to a criminal complaint. But her lawyer has reportedly said the cops didn't talk to her before rushing into Colon's apartment. She doesn't plan to cooperate with prosecutors in the case, the New York Daily News reported.

For some advocates, Colon's treatment carried echoes of the death of Eric Garner, who was killed in 2014 after a cop put him in a chokehold not far from the Staten Island courthouse where Colon's lawyers held a news conference Wednesday.

"What has changed in the last four years if they can walk into William’s house and beat and tase him in front of his family?" said Luiza Tanuri of the advocacy group Make the Road New York.

(Lead image: Christopher Pisciotta of the Legal Aid Society was among those calling for Officer Vincenzo Trabolse's firing on Wednesday. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)