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Fog/Mist Brooklyn man dies following arrest in Elmont
UPDATE 2:57 p.m. 3/4/16
The state attorney general’s office is currently reviewing a case regarding the death of a Brooklyn man while in Nassau County police custody following a foot pursuit in Elmont during the late hours of March 1.
Marlon S. Paton, 20, died after having what police called a “medical emergency,” following a foot chase through backyards on Fieldmore Avenue. After complaining of fatigue and telling the police he was ill, Paton was transported to Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream where he was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. on March 2. The time of death came nearly twelve hours after he and six other individuals failed to pay their $229.22 bill at an Applebees at 1710 Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont and attempted to evade police, officials said. The cause of Paton’s death has not been released.
The incident is also being reviewed in consultation with the Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas’s office, which investigates every police related death, said Shams Tarek, a spokesman for Singas.
“We notified the attorney general’s office, we’re in touch with them,” Tarek said. “That’s how the process goes.”
The attorney general’s office has not taken over the case, Tarek said. Under a new provision in New York state law, the Attorney General’s office is notified of incidents involving death of individuals in police custody.
“The [Attorney General’s] office has the right to take over the case at any point that if they feel it’s necessary,” Tarek said. Calls to New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office were not returned.
At a press conference on March 2, Detective Lieutenant Richard LeBrun declined to elaborate on the medical state of Paton prior to his death, citing healthcare rules. He described Paton as a “large man” and said that he experienced a “medical emergency.”
The Applebees manager notified patrolling police around 11 p.m. that seven individuals skipped out on their bill and three were sitting in a parked Chevrolet Malibu in the parking lot of the restaurant.
At that time, the subjects turned off the headlights of the car and drove out of the parking lot over a curb, bushes, and the sidewalk, heading westbound on Hempstead Turnpike.
