Woman widowed by cop husband's suicide sues NYPD

Michael Pigott was an experienced NYPD lieutenant with an elite team trained to deal with the most hostile scenarios. He was calm under pressure. A good leader.

Last fall, Pigott responded to a call of a naked man teetering on a building ledge and jabbing at officers below with a long fluorescent light bulb. Among New York police work, not an extraordinary case. Pigott made a split decision to order an officer to fire a stun gun, but the order backfired, leading to the man's death - and Pigott's eventual suicide.

"I was trying to protect my guys that day! ... I can't bear to lose my family and go to jail," he wrote in capital letters in a suicide note to his three children and wife, who is now suing the city and police department because she believes the NYPD threw her husband to the wolves as it sought a scapegoat in the case.

Though suicide is relatively rare among police officers, experts say it's important for officers, especially those in charge like Pigott, to feel they have the support of their superiors and their community. Yet that's hard to come by, especially after an event like the Tasered man's death that puts the entire department under a spotlight and takes on a life of its own through viral videos.

Susan Pigott says in her lawsuit that NYPD disciplinary action after the incident caused "extreme emotional anguish, humiliation, depression, fear and shame." The suit was filed to clear her husband's name, she said. It seeks no specific monetary claim.

The city Law Department, which is handling the case, issued a short statement. "While the loss of lives was clearly tragic, we are unable to comment any further due to the pending litigation," said Mark Palomino, chief of the special litigation unit.

Pigott, who died on his 46th birthday, was an emergency services officer for six years and a member of the department for more than 20. The team deals with hostage situations, suicidal suspects, building collapses and hazardous materials threats. It's a place for cool heads who can deal with the unpredictable.

They are the best of the best at the nation's largest police department.

"He had saved people who were attempting suicide on bridges; he had gone to sites where people were going to fall and he rescued them," said the family's attorney, Rodney Lapidus. "He was a cop's cop."

But that day he made the wrong call, and Iman Morales died.

Morales had a history of emotional problems, and witnesses and neighbors said he had grown increasingly agitated and threatened to kill himself, prompting his mother to call 911. When police arrived, Morales fled out the window of his third-floor apartment.

Pigott ordered Officer Nicholas Marchesona to fire the Taser. The 5,000-volt shock immobilized the 35-year-old Morales, who then toppled from his perch. He plunged 10 feet to the ground and died. Officers had radioed for an inflatable bag as the incident unfolded, but it had not yet arrived when Morales fell.

The confrontation was caught on amateur video, and the media pressure was immediate and intense. Tabloids posted the video on their Web sites, and it was played over and over on local news as an angry Morales family and community demanded disciplinary action. Reporters surrounded Pigott's home. He apologized to the family, saying he was "truly sorry."

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said quickly afterward that it appeared Pigott had violated department rules with his order. He was stripped of his gun and badge and demoted to a job with the department's motor vehicle fleet.

The Brooklyn prosecutor's office and the police department investigated, routine when a death occurs involving officers, but the case still plagued Pigott. He never spoke to an attorney.

Associated Press writer Frank Eltman contributed to this report from Bohemia, N.Y.

• Most Read