Friend Remembers Teacher Who Was Struck, Killed By Cop In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD Internal Affairs office was investigating, after an officer struck and killed a man while allegedly talking on a cellphone in Brooklyn this past weekend.
As 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported Tuesday, Officer Paula Medrano was turning left from Broadway onto Hooper Street in Brooklyn in a police van around 4:30 p.m. Saturday when she slammed into Felix Coss, 61, who was pronounced dead a short time later at Bellevue Hospital, according to published reports.
Friend Remembers Teacher Who Was Struck, Killed By Cop In Brooklyn
Witnesses told police Medrano was talking on her cellphone.
Coss' friend, Valerie Davis Sells, said Coss was a loving and generous man who would have forgiven the officer. He taught Spanish at the nearby Beginning with Children charter school, and she said he went above and beyond.
"If a child couldn't afford a suit for a special occasion like a prom or a ceremony, he'd get it for them," she said.
A wake for Coss was set for Thursday. His body will be sent to Puerto Rico for burial.
Following the crash, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau asked Medrano to surrender her cellphone, but she refused, sources told DNAInfo. No charges had been reported as of Tuesday.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told 1010 WINS that an investigation is underway, and Medrano has been placed on modified duty.
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