A man who police shot on a crowded Brooklyn subway platform Sunday — after, the NYPD says, he skipped a fare and threatened officers with a knife — remains in a hospital bed and unable to walk, his attorney said Friday.
“I don’t know if that’s something that’s going to be permanent or temporary, but he’s obviously in very bad shape as a result of being shot by the police,” lawyer Jonathan Fink said in a video arraignment for 37-year-old Derell Mickles, who faces charges of attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and fare evasion.
In the Brooklyn Supreme Court hearing, Judge Danny Chun ordered Mickles, who pleaded not guilty, be held on $200,000 cash bail, $1.5 million insurance company bond or $1.5 million partially secured bond.
By about 4 p.m. Friday, police hadn’t yet made good on their promise to release body-worn camera footage of the incident — in which police gunfire also struck three other people — within days. Several City Council members, advocacy organizations and family members of a bystander who was shot in the head have called for the immediate release of the footage, and questioned whether the use of force was warranted.
Police say that on Sunday afternoon, NYPD officers used their Tasers on and shot Mickles after he wouldn’t stop for officers who pursued him over the skipped fare, and he advanced on them with a knife.
On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams praised the NYPD for showing a “great level of restraint” in the shooting, despite the bloody outcome. The NYPD initially said it had recovered a knife from the scene, but then later said that was actually a different knife than the one Mickles had. They later said a man who lives in a homeless shelter took Mickles’ knife.
Fink said Friday he believes there “might be a strong argument that there was disproportionate force used by the police in this case,” and that he was eager to see the body-worn camera footage.
Mickles faces seven to 20 years in prison for the charge of attempting to assault a police officer, Prosecutor Steven Bravo said at the hearing. That, and Mickles prior “contacts with the criminal justice system,” were reasons for the judge to set bail and not release Mickles on his own recognizance, Bravo said.
Mickles, who was wearing a hospital gown and appeared to have a bandage on his left arm, appeared conscious and alert throughout the proceeding. Hospital monitors beeped audibly in the background.
Calls for transparency
Family members of Gregory Delpeche – the man struck in the head – are among those calling for police to release body-worn camera footage from the shooting.
“I believe that the NYPD was reckless in dispersing their guns in front of citizens, and I just think there should be an investigation,” Gregory Nougues, one of Delpeche’s cousins, said earlier this week.
Family members say Delpeche was riding the L train to work Sunday when a stray bullet from the chaotic incident struck him. He was still in critical condition at Kings County Hospital Friday, where family members said doctors had to remove part of his skull to relieve the swelling in his brain.
City Council Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers and Public Safety Committee Chair Yusef Salaam released a joint statement this week saying, “It is critical that such an incident on our subway system is not repeated or normalized.”
The City Council’s Progressive Caucus had also called for the NYPD to release body-worn camera footage.
This was the second police shooting in 48 hours where police said they tried to use a Taser, but the attempt proved ineffective. Tasers have failed roughly 40% of the time since the NYPD began issuing more of the devices to its officers nearly a decade ago, according to department data.