Woman ends up shot by officer as her friend struggled with police in NY, lawsuit says

A woman still has shrapnel in her body a year after an officer fired his handgun in her direction as her close friend struggled with police, a federal lawsuit filed in New York says.

An officer’s bullet struck Chassity Wade’s right thigh above her knee before exiting below her pelvis in Beacon on Feb. 27, 2022, according to a complaint filed one year after the shooting.

Wade says Fishkill Police Officer Joseph DiPalma “recklessly” fired his gun and disregarded her safety as her friend, who was also shot, was having a mental health crisis that day. The shooting put her in a wheelchair for a month, according to the complaint.

Now Wade is suing DiPalma and the Town of Fishkill, the complaint shows. She demands a trial by jury.

McClatchy News contacted the town and the Fishkill Police Department for comment and did not receive an immediate response.

A grand jury investigation determined DiPalma and other officers involved that day were justified in their actions, according to Mid Hudson News, which first reported Wade’s lawsuit.

What led to Wade getting shot?

On Feb. 27, 2022, Fishkill police officers, including DiPalma, were responding to a dispute between a mother and her son at an apartment complex in Beacon, the complaint says.

At about the same time, Wade was inside her apartment with her close friend Michael Becerril who began experiencing a mental health crisis, according to the complaint.

Becerril grabbed a knife and began harming himself before running out of Wade’s apartment with the knife, prompting her to follow him to calm him down, the complaint says.

As Wade ran down the street after Becerril, she screamed for help as DiPalma and Officer Joseph Hurtado were nearby, according to the complaint. Wade says she pulled on Becerril and they both fell down to the ground as he dropped the knife.

“At this point, Becerril no longer had the knife, was otherwise unarmed, and did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury…both Hurtado and DiPalma knew this,” the complaint says.

Hurtado tased Becerril, who then tried walking away before Hurtado tripped him, according to the complaint.

As Becerril fell, DiPalma was running up a nearby hill and “began shooting indiscriminately in the direction of the falling Becerril and (Wade), who was still on the ground,” the complaint says.

DiPalma’s bullets hit both Wade and Becerril, she says.

Becerril charged at DiPalma, knocked him down and grabbed his gun after he was shot, according to an indictment obtained by the Poughkeepsie Journal that charges him with attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Those details are not included in the complaint.

Becerril was hospitalized for the gunshot wound and ultimately apologized for how he acted that day and didn’t fault the officers for the shooting, according to Mid Hudson News. He pleaded guilty to “menacing a police officer with a firearm” and faces up to three years and six months in prison, the outlet reports.

Meanwhile, Wade’s complaint says that in shooting at Becerril, DiPalma didn’t “take precaution to avoid shooting (Wade).”

As a result, Wade felt excruciating pain after she was shot — pain that persists to this day — and needed emergency medical treatment, the complaint says.

She might need surgery to remove the remaining shrapnel in her body from DiPalma’s bullet, according to Wade.

Wade faults the Town of Fishkill for not “adequately” training police officers on how to respond to mental health crises or instances of self harm.

Wade is suing on several counts, including battery and negligence.

On June 22, 2022, a Dutchess County Court grand jury decided criminal charges against DiPalma and other officers weren’t warranted, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Fishkill is about 70 miles north of New York City.

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