The Japan Times covers developments in the case against NYPD for the death of Ryo Oyamada.
NEW YORK – A lawyer for the family of a Japanese man hit and killed last year by a police car released surveillance camera footage of the incident Wednesday, adding weight to his accusation in court that the New York Police Department intentionally bungled an investigation into the crash and failed to train its officers to drive safely.
Ryo Oyamada, 24, a language student living in New York, was crossing a street a little after midnight on Feb. 21, 2013, when a police cruiser driven by Officer Darren Illardi struck and killed him.
Steve Vaccaro, a lawyer who represents the victim’s estate in a wrongful death suit against the City of New York and the officers involved, posted the footage online and said he received it “in highly edited form and have time-stamps that are likely incorrect.”
“We believe that, at a minimum, these videos cast doubt on the public statements of the New York Police Department to the effect that the vehicle that struck Ryo Oyamada had its emergency lights activated,” Vaccaro said in an email.
Meanwhile, Vaccaro wrote in documents filed in federal court in early August that the NYPD intentionally lost crucial evidence.
The proposed complaint claims officers had “intent to destroy or suppress evidence concerning Illardi’s culpability” when they failed to gather the evidence.
click here for the full report.