The Civilian Complaint Review Board employee who leaked information about the cop who put Eric Garner in a deadly chokehold has been forced to resign, officials said Thursday.
Faced with the prospect of termination for divulging reports on NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the worker chose to pack it in, sources with knowledge of the case said.
The employee, who was hired as an investigator, was considered a “junior staff person” who worked for the CCRB for less than a year and did not work on any complaints against Pantaleo, sources said.
The CCRB confirmed Thursday that the leaked information was authentic.
“After a swift and thorough internal investigation, the Civilian Complaint Review Board identified the employee who was the source of the leak,” Jerika Richardson, senior adviser and secretary to the board said in a statement. “As of today, that individual no longer works at CCRB.”
The agency was careful not to name or reveal the person’s gender.
The leaker was easy to find because of software that tracks who opens investigation files into police officers, a source said.
On Tuesday, the anonymous CCRB worker gave documents related to Pantaleo to ThinkProgress.org.
The papers indicated that seven complaints — including 14 allegations — were made against Pantaleo before his fatal encounter with Garner on Staten Island. Four of the complaints were substantiated, but Pantaleo was only docked two vacation days, the documents show.
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch called the employee’s departure “a positive first step.”
“The release of a police officer’s confidential personnel records is still a crime that should be thoroughly investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Lynch said.
A high-ranking NYPD source said releasing Pantaleo’s CCRB information was illegal because it violates 50-A, a state law that protects police officers against the release of disciplinary findings against them — unless approved by a judge. A municipal employee who violates 50-A will not face criminal charges, but could be fired and sued by the cop whose information was released, the source said.
City Hall declined to comment on the leaker’s resignation.
Pantaleo confronted Garner on July 17, 2014, about selling loose cigarettes outside a Tompkinsville beauty supply store. The 43-year-old father of six — as shown in a viral video first reported by NYDailyNews.com — pleaded for his life as Pantaleo put him in the banned chokehold that killed him.
