A Staten Island grand jury cleared an NYPD cop Wednesday in the chokehold death of Eric Garnerduring his caught-on-video arrest for peddling loose cigarettes, The Post has learned.
The panel voted a “no-bill” and dismissed all potential charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo, sources said.
The blockbuster decision capped weeks of investigation by the special grand jury, which was empaneled in September specifically to review evidence in Garner’s racially charged death.
In a statement released by his union, Pantaleo said: “I became a police officer to help people and to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
“It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner,” he added.
“My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”
Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said it was clear that Pantaleo had tried “to do nothing more than take Mr. Garner into custody as instructed and that he used the take down technique that he learned in the academy when Mr. Garner refused.”
“While we are pleased with the grand jury’s decision, there are no winners here today,” Lynch said.
“There was a loss of life that both a family and a police officer will always have to live with….No police officer starts a shift intending to take another human being’s life and we are all saddened by this tragedy.”
A lawyer for Garner’s family, Jonathan Moore, told the Associated Press he was “astonished by the decision.”
The head of the NYPD’s sergeants union, Ed Mullins, said he was “grateful the judicial system came through.”
“I know there are those who disagree, but everyone needs to remember that we are a nation of laws. We’re now at the point where we all need to find common ground in order for everyone to move forward.”
There was no immediate comment from Mayor de Blasio, who canceled a scheduled 2:15 p.m. press conference on unrelated matters and was planning to speak at a Staten Island church later in the afternoon.
The NY1 cable channel said NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton canceled a planned evening appearance on its “Inside City Hall” show.
Eric Garner, right, is seen with his children during a family outing in this undated photo.Photo: AP
Sources have said the NYPD was mobilizing for massive protests following the riots that erupted in Ferguson, Mo., last week following a grand jury’s decision to clear white cop Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting there of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.
Assemblyman Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn) called it “an outrage” and “a disgrace” that Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan didn’t win an indictment of Pantaleo.
“The failure on Staten Island to indict, unfortunately, continues a pattern in New York City where people of color are policed differently than whites, often to the point of harassment or violence,” Camara said.
“The lack of indictment, even with the video evidence that New Yorkers have watched in horror, is yet another example of New York City leading the nationwide revival of occupation-style policing that was so prevalent in the Jim Crow South.”
It was unclear exactly what charges prosecutors asked the grand jury to consider filing, or how the vote went.
Under New York law, an indictment must be agreed upon by at least 12 members of a grand jury, which can have up to 23 members.
Cell-phone video of Garner’s July 17 arrest shows Pantaleo wrestling him to the sidewalk on Bay Street, with the white cop’s arms wrapped around the neck of the black suspect.
On the ground, Garner was heard repeatedly yelling “I can’t breathe!” as Pantaleo and other cops held him down and handcuffed him.
The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Garner’s death a homicide caused by “compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.”
Police union leaders denied that Pantaleo used a chokehold — which is banned by the NYPD — and blasted the autopsy as part of a “political” witch hunt.
Garner’s family has filed notice it plans to sue the city for $75 million on grounds including wrongful death, pre-death pain and suffering, and civil-rights violations.
The family and advisor the Rev. Al Sharpton have also repeatedly called on the feds to investigate his death.
In July, US Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department was monitoring the case, and a group including Garner’s mom, widow and Sharpton met in August with Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch.
She has since been nominated by President Obama to replace Holder.
