Story Archive

The Octogenarian Threat

Officers in Brooklyn, N.Y., responded to a report of a suicidal man. They entered the apartment of John Antoine, 86. “The individual [the officer] encountered inside the residence was armed with a large kitchen knife and was in immediate proximity to both the sergeant and a 3-year-old who was present in the residence,” a police spokesman said. “The individual refused to comply with the sergeant’s commands to drop the knife,” so Antoine was tasered, and was charged with harassment for failing to drop the knife. This did nothing for Antoine’s granddaughter or her 23-year-old boyfriend, who was the suicidal man police were called about. The original call, which included the boyfriend’s name and age, was passed through several people, but the responding officers only knew they were looking for a suicidal man. Antoine had the knife to cut onions for the pot of soup he was cooking: police found him at the stove. He is suing the city for excessive force, and filing a false charge. “It is scary to think that our police force has such a lack of communication amongst each other,” said Antoine’s lawyer. (MS/New York Daily News) ...The telephone game: the stakes are higher now.