86-year-old man, mistaken for 23-year-old suspect, tased twice by NYPD

Eighty-six-year-old John Antoine was chopping onions in his home when several men appeared at his door. They identified themselves as NYPD and, when Antoine asked for a minute and put the knife down, he was tased in his neck and leg.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - ABC Eyewitness News reported the officers were searching for a suicidal 23-year-old man when they discovered Antoine and assumed he was the man they were after.

The elderly man was in the midst of cooking when the officers rang his doorbell then entered his home through the front door, which had been left ajar.

Antoine said he believed it was his wife who rang, so he kept cooking and chopping onions.

"Coming up the step I hear these feet coming up like a horse. I look, I see five people, no badge, nothing. I say, 'What do you all want? They're yelling at me, so I say 'just a second'. [sic] I turned my back, I put the knife down, and bam."

He explained that was when he was tased on his neck. 

Antoine added, "They are yelling, 'Hit him again, get him with the next one.' He hit me on my leg here and one kicked me in the stomach on the floor.'

The New York Daily News spoke to Antoine and got a few more details as Antoine shared: "The police came in and say, 'You so and so, put down the knife,' and I said, 'Why are you coming in my apartment? What do you want?' They wouldn't tell me."

Scott Rynecki, Antoine's attorney, said: "A member of the 63rd precinct had called in to another part of the New York City police responding and gave the information that it was a 23-year-old male that they had to respond to." 

In the 911 call the dispatcher asks, "Any idea on how old he is?" and the officer replied, "23 years old [sic]."

Antoine admitted, "I still have pain in my shoulder and leg and some nights I can't sleep."

Tasing people in the neck is not recommended police procedure and the kick to his stomach and obvious age-discrepancy are partially why he decided to file a $5 million lawsuit.

Despite the obvious harassment and brutality, the NYPD maintains the responding officers acted appropriately.

A police spokesman even commended the sergeant responsible for tasing Antoine in the neck for not shooting him.

"The individual he encountered inside the residence was armed with a large kitchen knife and was in immediate proximity to both the sergeant and a 3-year-old who was present in the residence. The individual refused to comply with the sergeant's commands to drop the knife, instead making statements to the effect, I am not going to jail, I'm not going to the hospital.'"

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