Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

NYPD Officer Charged With Murder for Fatal Road-Rage Shooting, Sources Say

By  Camille Bautista and Murray Weiss | September 26, 2016 3:57pm 

 Delrawn Smalls was fatally shot by an off-duty NYPD officer in East New York on July 4, police said.
Delrawn Smalls was fatally shot by an off-duty NYPD officer in East New York on July 4, police said.
View Full Caption
Family Handout

BROOKLYN — An off-duty NYPD officer who fatally shot an unarmed driver during a road rage incident in East New York in July was charged with second-degree murder on Monday, sources said.

Wayne Isaacs was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury for the death of 37-year-old Delrawn Small. The officer was seen on video gunning down the victim.

Isaacs chose not to testify before the jury, sources said.

The indictment marks the first case under State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office where a police officer has been charged for killing an unarmed civilian, sources said.

The charges were first reported by the New York Post.

Isaacs was also charged with first-degree manslaughter and was formally suspended from the NYPD, according to sources. He was previously placed on modified assignment.

Video from the July 4 incident shows Small leaving his car on Atlantic Avenue at Bradford Street and walking to Isaac’s vehicle. The off-duty police officer, who was leaving a shift from the 79th Precinct, appears to shoot Small almost immediately.

Isaacs, who was treated for bruising following the shooting, told friends that he was suddenly punched while in the driver’s seat and believed he was being carjacked, as previously reported by DNAinfo New York.

Schneiderman’s office investigated the shooting following a 2015 executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo that gave Schneiderman's office jurisdiction over fatal police shootings. 

The attorney general's office has investigated other deadly police shootings without bringing charges.

Isaacs is expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Isaac’s attorney declined to comment on the charges. A representative for the attorney general’s office was not immediately available for comment.

In 2014, Isaacs was sued for police brutality when he beat a man in Bedford-Stuyvesant, knocking him to the ground while other officers called the victim "n---er."

The plaintiff was given $20,000 in a settlement, according to court records.