A veteran NYPD cop who was acquitted in a fatal 2016 off-duty shooting lost his🌼 bid to get Civilian Complaint Review Board charges against him thrown out, according to a ruling issued Tuesday.
Officer Wayne Isaacs – who shot Delrawn Small during a road-rage altercation in 2016 – filed suit in March asking a judge to block the cop watchdog group’s charges of second-degree assault.
But on Monday, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Verna Saunders dismissed Isaacs’ case finding that it was “premature” since he didn’t first fight the charges in an administrative proceeding – a required initial step before taking legal action.
Saunders acknowledged that Isaacs’ acquittal and the CCRB charges coming years later raise questions about whether the watchdog has the authority to bring the fresh case.
“This court notes that nothing prevents petitioner from raising said challenges in the administrative proceedings,” Saunders’ decision reads.
Isaacs testified at trial that he shot Small in self-defense because he thought the man was going to kill him.
A jury acquitt🌟ed Isaacs of second-degree murder in🎉 2017 and the NYPD also cleared him of wrongdoing in 2018 following an internal investigation.
“We are pleased to see the court uphold the CCRB’s right to prosecute serious misconduct,” a spokesperson for the CCRB said in a statement. “For a truly safe city, oversight and accountability must be protected.”
Isaacs’ lawyer, Stephen Worth, said, “Unfortunately the CCRB misread the decision of the court. The court recognized that we have the right to raise this issue in the administrative proceeding.”
