A parolee who suffered an apparent heart attack and died after NYPD cops tackled him to the ground in Manhattan’s Riverside Park was trying to make a fresh start in life since being released from prison, the man’s shocked coworkers told the Daily News.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is reviewing the case, which was recorded on the officers’ body-worn cameras, as it does for all deaths in police custody. Neither of the officers involved has been disciplined or removed from patrol as the investigation into Sheldon Ennis’ June 26 death continues, officials said.
Ennis, 54, spent nearly half his life in prison for running a violent drug ring in Manhattan in the 1990s. But after his November 2023 release, he had been trying to make an honest go of it as a residents assistant at the Skyline Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen, according to colleagues.
“He came home from prison after doing over 25 years,” a coworker said. “He got his life together. He was working a job here.”
“He literally died right after his shift,” the coworker added. “He worked that night.”
The officers, who were part of a crime-reduction overtime initiative, found Ennis swigging a beer from a paper bag in the park by W. 137th St. and Riverside Drive about 10:05 p.m. The incident took place just across the street from Ennis’ new residence, according to coworkers.
The officers immediately demanded to see Ennis’ ID but he repeatedly told them he lived across the street and didn’t have any identification on him, according to a police source who reviewed the body-worn camera footage.
Ennis offered to get his ID or call a friend to bring the ID to the officers but the cops refused, the source said.
When the officers told Ennis they were going to take him to the stationhouse to verify his identity, Ennis said he didn’t want to go because he had a $2,000 check on him, according to the source.
Ennis asked one of the officers to call their sergeant then tried to run away from them, knocking into one of the officers as he made his escape.
One of the cops immediately chased after Ennis and tackled him to the ground, landing heavily on his chest, the police source said.
Ennis hit his head when he was tackled and was bleeding when he told the cops he was having difficulty breathing. The cops radioed for an ambulance for both Ennis and the cop who tackled him. The officer, who has only been on the force for about a year, cut up his arm trying to apprehend him, officials said.
Medics rushed Ennis to Mount Sinai Morningside, where he died following some kind of cardiac episode, officials said. The city Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine his exact cause of death.
A high-ranking NYPD official who also reviewed the body camera footage described the takedown as “not overly aggressive” and said the officers made it clear why they had approached him when they asked for his identification.
Coworkers became worried when Ennis didn’t come to work the next day.
“We are devastated,” another colleague said. “He never missed work. We called and called. He didn’t pick up. That wasn’t like him. Everyone wondered what happened.”
“He was the sweetest guy,” a third coworker sad. “He had a great relationship with everybody. He will be missed. Definitely.”
Attempts to reach Ennis’ family were unsuccessful.
Ennis had eight arrests on his record, one of them for attempted murder.
The outcome of the attempted murder bust is unclear but he ultimately served nearly 26 years in prison on drug charges. Hs parole was due to expire in 2035.
A 2008 ruling by the state Court of Appeals, which upheld his conviction, laid out his crimes — he, his brother and a third man ran a drug dealing operation known as the “Dog Pound” out of a Midtown hotel and rivals who sold drugs too close to their turf were met with violence.
The trio opened fire on a pair of rival dealers in August 1996, paralyzing one of them, and four months later, Ennis and his brother stabbed two more dealers who dared cross into Dog Pound territory, court documents show.
During his fatal clash with cops in the park, officers recovered a pocketknife from Ennis, although he never threatened police with it, officials said.
The rookie who tackled Ennis has never had a civilian complaint filed against him. His partner, who’s been a cop for nine years, has been investigated twice for abuse of authority and once for using physical force against a woman by the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Only one of the abuse of authority complaints, where he was accused of forcibly removing someone to the hospital, was substantiated.
The New York State Attorney General’s office is conducting a “preliminary assessment” of Ennis’ death, an agency spokesman said.
With Roni Jacobson and John Annese
