Former Rochester, New York, Police Chief La’Ron Singletary accused Mayor Lovely Warren of pressuring him to lie about the events leading to the fatal arrest of Daniel Prude.
In March, Prude suffocated to death after cops placed a “spit hood” over his head and pushed him to the ground while he was naked and in distress.
The circumstances surrounding Prude’s death prompted Warren to suspend seven cops, pending an investigation.
However, the incident was not made public until September, when the family released the bodycam footage and supporting evidence.
The autopsy conducted revealed that Prude’s cause of death includes “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.”
Warren earlier claimed that Singletary told her Prude had died of a PCP overdose, and that she had not seen the footage until August.
“l have addressed with police Chief La’Ron Singletary how deeply disappointed I am in him personally and professionally for failing to fully and accurately inform me about what occurred to Mr. Prude,” she said at the time.
While Singletary announced his resignation days later, he was fired weeks before he was set to officially leave.
On December 3, he filed a notice of claim – a precursor to a lawsuit – that states that he was given the boot because he refused to lie to the City Council to support Warren’s narrative.
“On September 7, Mayor Warren asked me to withhold full and truthful information from the City Council investigation into the matter of Daniel Prude,” he wrote.
“Mayor Warren asked me instead, to provide false information and to omit material information to support the Mayor’s public narrative concerning her knowledge of the events in the matter of Daniel Prude.”
However, a review by the city’s Office of Public Integrity found that no city workers “violated city or departmental policies or ethical standards” in handling the case.