Outraged relatives of a man killed nearly a decade ago by an off-duty cop in a Brooklyn road-rage clash are urging Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to let a trial against the officer proceed.
Officer Wayne Isaacs has remained on the force since he gunned down unarmed motorist Delrawn Small on July 4, 2016, during a confrontation on an East New York street.
Delrawn Small
Obtained by New York Daily News Delrawn Small.
Isaacs’ latest reprieve came from an NYPD administrative law judge, who said the Civilian Complaint Review Board, which had scheduled the trial, did not have jurisdiction because the cop was off duty and not acting in an official police capacity.
Small’s family said he is being denied justice — again.
“There have been seven police commissioners, two mayors since Officer Isaacs murdered Delrawn,” the victim’s cousin Eric Eleam said at a news conference outside Police Headquarters in lower Manhattan. “Through all of these steps in the system, the PBA and people have been protecting him,” he said, referring to the city’s largest police union.
Eleam, like the CCRB, maintained that Isaacs, although off duty, was operating in his capacity as a police officer when he drew his department-issued weapon and used it to shoot Small.
Isaacs also claimed that he acted as a police officer when sued by Small’s family, according to a CCRB spokesman.
“The PBA paid his lawyer bills for 10 years,” Eleam said. “They defended him because he was a cop during the trial, the civil suit. Now they want to say he was not a cop.”
Small, 37, was with his infant son, stepdaughter and girlfriend when his car was cut off several times by Isaacs.
Small, who was unarmed, crossed two lanes of traffic to confront Isaacs in his car on Atlantic Ave. near Bradford St. Almost as soon as Small reached Isaacs’ window, the officer shot him three times, striking him in the chest, officials said.
Isaacs, who maintained he acted in self-defense, was acquitted of murder and manslaughter at a criminal trial in November 2017.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division then cleared him following an investigation, which then-Police Commissioner James O’Neill signed off on a year later.
In October 2020, the CCRB brought a new disciplinary case against Isaacs, but was stymied by Isaacs’ lawyers and the Police Benevolent Association union, which blocked the agency’s access to sealed records.
In September, the NYPD finally scheduled his disciplinary trial for Nov. 19, a development blocked by the administrative law judge.
