Mayor de Blasio Monday defended the cops trying to bust a crazed man high on PCP who died in their custody.
Ronald Singleton died in the back of a taxi after when the frightened cabbie pulled over, flagged down the officers and told them his passenger had been acting irrationally.
The officers put Singleton in a full body wrap.
Singleton was “in a very difficult situation, flailing about and not able to stop and a danger to himself and others,’’ the mayor said.
“From everything we’ve seen so far, protocol was followed to protect him and protect everyone around him by restraining him.’’
Nonetheless, he promised an investigation by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs unit.
Police Commissioner William Bratton, who was with de Blasio at the West Indian Day parade, said the medical examiner’s ruling that Singleton’s death was a homicide does not necessarily mean a crime was committed.
“The public in general sees the word `homicide’ and they immediately conjure up images of a criminal act. It is not that, it is a medical use of the term, different from the legal use of the term,’’ he said.
“Unfortunately as soon as we see `homicide,’ everyone assumes that the officer acted inappropriately or even in a criminal fashion. That is not the case.”
People on PCP are “extremely violent and difficult,’’ Bratton said, adding, that Singleton “through his own actions, precipitated a medical crisis.’’
The actions of NYPD officers have been under a microscope since Eric Garner died on Staten Island when an officer put him in a choke hold.