Exclusive | NYPD cops killed man in scuffle that started over open beer can: lawsuit

The family of a man who died during an NYPD scuffle that started over an open can of beer claims the cops used excessive deadly force, according to a new lawsuit.Shelton Ennis — a 54-year-old reputed ex-con on parole — died June 26, 2025, after NYPD probationary Officer Karl Yelenic pursued and tackled him during what started as a routine front-up in Upper Manhattan, court documents said.“[Ennis] lived in the area.He was enjoying a pleasant night,” said the family’s lawyer, Michael Pecorella, to The Post.

“There’s no reason why it should have had to end this way.”Body-worn camera footage showed Yelenic and Officer Marc Leandre exit their vehicle near Riverside Drive and West 136th Street and approach Ennis, who was leaning against a stone wall around Riverside Park holding a black plastic bag.Ennis — who was once charged with attempted murder and ended up doing nearly 26 years behind bars over vicious drug raps, only to seemingly be on his way to turning his life around, according to the New York Daily News  — had apparently just tossed a beer can. “Why you throw it away?” Leandre said.Ennis responded that it was empty, but Leandre continued to ask four more times why he threw it away, video showed.Leandre then asked Ennis for his identification, and the man said he had it at his apartment nearby, according to the footage.“I’m not bothering nobody,” Ennis told the cops.“I just came out the house for a little second to relax before I go to work tomorrow,’’ said the man, who coworkers told the News was a “residents’ assistant’’ at the Skyline Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen.When officers asked for his name, Ennis falsely told them Cedrick Ennis, according to the attorney general’s report on the man’s death.The video showed Ennis repeatedly tell the officers that he would show them his identification if they took him to his apartment.“We don’t do that.

… The thing we do, we take people back to the precinct, and you ca...