Tamon Robinson

Tamon Robinson died after being struck or colliding with an NYPD patrol vehicle in Canarsie, Brooklyn, in April 2012; eyewitnesses disputed police claims that the cruiser was stopped.

What happened

New York police pursued Robinson in Canarsie after officers reported seeing him taking paving stones from a housing-project site. A police vehicle and Robinson collided; he fell and suffered a fatal head injury. The NYPD accident account said the vehicle had stopped before Robinson ran into it, but witnesses disputed that account and maintained that the police car hit him. Police subsequently sent his grieving family a roughly $700 bill for damage to the patrol car, later apologizing. Robinson's mother, Laverne Dobbinson, fought for accountability rather than accepting the city's original explanation. His death became a prominent example of the need to investigate police-vehicle encounters and give families access to the underlying evidence.

Investigation & findings

New York City agreed in August 2014 to pay Robinson's family $2 million. At the time, the Brooklyn district attorney continued investigating; the settlement did not constitute a criminal verdict.

What happened

Investigation & findings

Sources & records