Suffolk detective questioned on presence of gun in struggle during Kenny Lazo arrest in wrongful death trial

A Suffolk County detective testified Friday that he could not verify that a 25-year-old Bay Shore man at the heart of a federal wrongful death lawsuit tried to grab an officer's gun amid an altercation with police that contributed to his death.

Under questioning by plaintiff attorney Fred Brewington, Det. John Newton said in a Central Islip federal courtroom that he did not see Kenny Lazo reach for the officer's gun on the night of April 12, 2008, during a struggle that Lazo's family says led to his death. Police have said that is a key reason they had to beat Lazo into submission, as he tried to flee from a traffic stop in Bay Shore for alleged drug dealing.

But Newton, under questioning by Marc Lindemann, an attorney for the county, said he did not see the alleged gun-grab because he had momentarily turned his back to Lazo and the other officers trying to control him while looking for his handcuffs in the dark.

At that moment, he said, he did hear Officer William Judge shout out, "Gun! Gun!"

Just before that, he acknowledged he had been holding Lazo's left arm — the same one Judge says he used to try to grab the gun.

Lazo’s family is seeking $55 million in damages and $100 million in punitive damages in the lawsuit.

The altercation that led to Lazo's death took place about 8 p.m. near an entrance ramp for the Southern State Parkway in Bay Shore. Police say they had to use force against Lazo because he resisted arrest and tried to flee. His family says police should have taken him immediately to the hospital.

Instead, they took him to the Third Precinct, where he was found unresponsive at about 9 p.m. At 9:25, he was taken to Southside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:45, according to Brewington.

An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County medical examiner determined that Lazo died from cardiac arrest “following exertion associated with physical altercation with multiple blunt impacts.” It also concluded that obesity was a factor in Lazo's death.

On Friday, Brewington took Newton through a withering series of questions about what happened that night, and about previous police reports he filed and his testimony this week. He focused in part on what Brewington called Newton’s inconsistent statements, including on whether packets of cocaine were allegedly found by police on Lazo’s body or in some grass nearby.

Newton eventually acknowledged some inconsistencies, leading Brewington to state, “Part of your history in the past is to give untrue testimony.”

Brewington has used a similar approach in his questioning since opening statements in the case Tuesday, contending that the jury should not trust police statements.

Lindemann has argued that police did the best they could in a chaotic situation. He said police could not have known Lazo was going to suffer cardiac arrest due to the encounter.

In testimony in the afternoon, a witness who said he was in the Third Precinct the night of the alleged beating of Lazo testified he heard police talking about what happened.

Eric Melendez, 36, who said he was a friend of the Lazo family and acknowledged in court he has mental challenges, said he was in the precinct after he had his own problem at the train station in Brentwood. He said while waiting he heard at least one officer commenting about the alleged beating and demonstrating how police punched Lazo.

Melendez said he heard the police say they had to get Lazo’s body out of the precinct before “it stinks the place up.” Under cross-examination, however, Melendez acknowledged some of his statements Friday contradicted written statements he had signed for the police in 2008.