Video Of Crown Heights Man Dragged To Death By NYPD Van Raises Alarm

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Ronald Anthony Smith's family fear he lost his life because two NYPD officers in a speeding police van were watching a soccer match while driving.

Their fears are linked to newly released, long-awaited bodycam footage released last week by the Attorney General's office as part of the investigation into Smith's death on Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue in April.

The footage shows that after the cops exited the van that hit and dragged Smith 35 feet, one of them was clutching a phone playing video of what appears to be a player on a field.

"Were these officers watching a soccer game while speeding down the median?" said Smith's sister Julie Floyd. "Was my brother murdered because officers cared more about watching a game than about safety?"

Additional videos show the NYPD van flashing emergency lights, blasting through two red lights on Eastern Parkway at Buffalo and Rochester avenues, and one officer performing CPR on Smith with a single hand.

The officer's other hand was busy making a phone call, the video shows.

"I’m a trained healthcare worker and am CPR certified," Floyd said. "I know what proper CPR looks like and that was not CPR."

Smith's family has worked alongside the advocacy group Justice Committee, which works with victims of police violence, to distribute the video and Floyd's response.

Floyd said in a statement she remains outraged there hasn't been definitive action from Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell or the Attorney General's office.

"Attorney General James must prosecute both for the murder of my brother," Floyd said. "The video is clear and all of them should be ashamed."

An announcement from the Attorney General's office does not include comment from James.

Requests for comment sent to both the Mayor's office and the NYPD went unanswered.

The Attorney General's office identities NYPD officer Orkhan Mamedov as the officer seen holding the phone and the other officer in the van as Evan Siegel.

Floyd says Siegel "did nothing to intervene or help my brother."

Smith's family met last month with the Civilian Complaint Review Board — an independent agency that monitors the NYPD — and has worked with the Attorney General's office, she said.

"They just ran him over in the street," Floyd told Patch last month. "He has a mother who's still alive. He has sisters. He has brothers, his nieces and nephews. And we all loved him.

“I’m looking for jail time.”