Ramsey Orta, the man who filmed the police chokehold death of Eric Garner, was ordered locked up without bail and will undergo a psychological examination after his most recent arrest in Brooklyn.
Orta, who has a sentencing looming in a federal gun case, is accused of fleeing a traffic stop in Williamsburg, crashing into a moped and keeping drugs and a loaded gun in his glove compartment.
His court-assigned defense lawyer asked for the mental health exam at his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court on Saturday, according to sources familiar with the case. The attorney, Calvin Saunders, did not return a message seeking comment.
A criminal complaint revealed new details of Orta’s encounter with cops in Williamsburg on Friday night.
He was driving a BMW with no front plate at the corner of Metropolitan and Wythe Aves. at about 10:20 p.m. when officers in a police cruiser turned on their lights and siren to try and pull him over, according to the complaint.
Instead, he fled and hit a moped scooter with two people riding it, the complaint states.
When police searched the glove box, they found 40 decks of heroin, 4 grams of cocaine and a loaded 9-mm. Taurus gun with 13 rounds in the magazine, according to court filings. Orta’s driver’s license had been suspended for blowing off a traffic summons, the complaint noted.
The 31-year-old defendant faces several charges after the episode, including felony drug and weapon possession and reckless endangerment.
On July 17, 2014, Orta took video of former NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold and pulling him to the ground while arresting him for selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island.
Garner, 43, said “I can’t breathe!” at least 11 times before dying. The video, which was obtained by the Daily News, sparked a national outcry.
Orta has been busted several times since taking the video. He has contended that he’s been targeted by the NYPD, but he pleaded guilty in 2016 to weapon possession…
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