Daniel Pantaleo Verdict Imminent, Protests Expected: Report

NEW YORK — An NYPD judge is expected to deliver a verdict Friday in the disciplinary case against the officer who choked Eric Garner more than five years ago, a new report says.

Police brass plan to keep extra cops on hand this weekend in case protests erupt over the verdict in the internal trial of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the New York Post reported Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner of Trials Rosemarie Maldonado will deliver her long-anticipated recommendation for how to discipline Pantaleo to the cop's lawyer and the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the police oversight agency prosecuted him, according to the Post.

NYPD officials are afraid of unrest spreading throughout the city if the police judge sides with Pantaleo, the Post reported.

But the officer's fate ultimately lies with Police Commissioner James O'Neill, who can accept Maldonado's recommendation or make his own ruling. He is expected to make a final decision by the end of this month.

Pantaleo has avoided state and federal criminal charges in connection with Garner's killing but faces firing from the police force in the disciplinary case. The officer was seen on video putting the Staten Island dad in a chokehold that the city's medical examiner said led to his death.

The case has haunted Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was in the first year of his tenure when Garner died. Protesters shouting "Fire Pantaleo!" interrupted Wednesday's second presidential debate in Detroit, where de Blasio said the end of the ordeal was near.

"There's finally going to be justice," de Blasio said. "I have confidence in that, in the next 30 days, in New York."

Neither the NYPD nor the Civilian Complaint Review Board immediately responded to Patch's requests for comment.

Read the full New York Post report here.