Two NYPD officers have been suspended after a Brooklyn man shot outside a bar Saturday morning lay on the ground for nearly an hour and a half after someone called 911 for help. Now the man’s family says their loved one would still be alive had officers just done their jobs.
According to NBC New York, Robert Fason and another man were shot during an argument with three other men outside a Bedford-Stuyvesant bar just after 3:30 a.m. last weekend. Fason, 44, managed to run two blocks looking for help but collapsed in front of a home, his family says.
Two officers arrived after a witness called 911 to report an injured man. The officers never got out of their patrol car, however, and reported back that the call was “unnecessary,” the NYPD said Monday. Fason laid on the ground, dying, for another 45 minutes before the same witness rang police again. That’s when a second set of officers arrived and found the man dead on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso.
“He could’ve been saved,” Fason’s wife, Aloma Fason, told the station. “He laid on the ground for 45 minutes. The 45 minutes he was on the ground, somebody could’ve been working on him, trying to save his life. They left him there to bleed out to die.”
NYPD Chief Rodney Harrison said the first set of officers failed to follow protocol, and as result, were suspended “due to lack of proper investigation.” The officers involved have since been identified as Roberto Anton and Lisa Lovell of the 73rd Precinct, the New York Post reported.
“The borough investigation unit is conducting a thorough look as to what happened,” Harrison said.
The slain man’s family said they want the men who shot him to be arrested, but also for the officers who left him on the ground dying to be fired.
“What were you thinking about when you were in your car, and you were passing by?” said Melvin Fason, one of Fason’s brothers. “… Why didn’t you just get out your car and take a look and see who was lying on the floor? If it was your family, wouldn’t you do that?”
Aloma Fason said she has yet to receive an explanation or an apology from the NYPD. She said her family is now considering taking legal action against the department.
Meanwhile, police said they’re still searching for the shooter.
