# Pittsfield, MA OIS no BWC



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Credit: TBDailynews.com











This is Miguel Estrella from Pittsfield. 
He was shot and killed by police on Friday night after approaching them with a knife during what his friends and family are calling a mental health crisis, and of course his girlfriend is *blaming the cops*.









Girlfriend of Pittsfield man shot, killed by officer questions use of deadly force


The girlfriend of a man shot and killed by a Pittsfield police officer is demanding answers. She says the police are misrepresenting part of the story, and she questions the use of deadly force.




www.wwlp.com





_The girlfriend of a man shot and killed by a Pittsfield Police officer is demanding answers. She says the police are misrepresenting part of the story, and she questions the use of deadly force. Those who knew and worked with Miguel Estrella called him *hardworking, kind and generous.* But after an encounter with police, the 22-year-old’s life came to an abrupt and tragic end.

The night he was shot and killed, Miguel’s girlfriend, Daneya Falwell, says he was in crisis. She says he struggled with mental illness and was drinking and cutting himself with a knife. A concerned friend called 911 and Daneya says two Pittsfield Police officers responded to her apartment building.

“You know, the police started talking to him with the ambulance [first responders]. Told him to give them the knife. And they told me they are supposed to forcefully take him into custody, and they didn’t, that they are not going to. That they are going to leave him in my care,” she said.

She says Miguel refused medical treatment but handed over the knife. She says the officers left him in her care. But minutes later, when Miguel grabbed another knife, she called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. But she says, instead of EMTs, it was the police who responded. She wonders why they didn’t ask for the knife back again.

“They could have been, ‘Could you just hand it [the knife] over?’ like they did the first time.”

The account of what happened next, according to Pittsfield Police, is that with the knife still in his hand, Miguel advanced on the officers. They deployed a taser twice. And when that wasn’t successful in subduing Miguel, they say one officer pulled out his weapon and fired two shots. Daneya captured the chaotic moments after the shooting with her cellphone. You can hear her begging for help, and then a man’s voice asking for an ambulance.

As for the Pittsfield Police, they are referring all questions about the shooting to the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office, who say a unit with the state police is investigating. They say the Pittsfield Police do not use body cameras or have in-car cameras. They do have a unit to respond to subjects who are in crisis and to de-escalate the situation. But Daneya says no one like that was there. Daneya is concerned that by investigating one of their own, the police may not be impartial._

The NAACP is of course *getting in on the action too*.

_NAACP chapter president Dennis Powell says that Estrella’s death is indicative of systemic issues with policing.

“Clearly, what they saw was a person of color, large in size which, unfortunately, the color of his skin represented a threat to the officers,” Powell told WAMC. “It is inconceivable that these officers did not realize that this young man was in crisis and needed help.”

Powell says the NAACP and other community groups are organizing a collective action in response._

Looks like we’ve got a “why couldn’t you shoot him in the knees” situation here with the police experts. But *according to witnesses* the cops tried to taze him and basically begged him to stop advancing on them with a knife.

_“He [Estrella] started walking towards them and started yelling at them. The cop was backing off as well,” said Seoane.

Estrella walked toward the officers, Seoane said, and one of them pulled his weapon and pointed it at the man.

Seoane said the officer called out, “Stop man, I don’t want to do this. Please don’t.”

“I remember that clear as day,” Seoane said, adding that there were approximately five officers on the scene, two standing on either side of the officer who had his gun drawn.

“I think he [the police officer] said, ‘I’m trying to help you,’ something like that,” said Seoane._

So when are cops allowed to shoot dangerous knife wielding lunatics? Do they have to get stabbed first like the cop in Springfield? Granted, I don’t understand why he wasn’t taken into custody the first time the cops were called, but the girlfriend agreed to it so her whining about it now is too little, too late. For some reason the Pittsfield Police don’t have body cams, which they should because 99% of the time it ends up exonerating the cops. Now we have a ratchet revisionist situation.

I wasn’t there that night so I can’t say for sure what happened, but all I know is that the people talking about what a great kid this guy was have no credibility, since Miguel was a *gang banging felon* prior to meeting his demise.

_Two Pittsfield men were held without bond Monday when they were arraigned on weapons charges in Northern Berkshire District Court.David Moody, 28, and Miguel Estrella, 20, are both facing charges related to a loaded 9 mm Taurus semiautomatic pistol police say they found during a midnight traffic stop in Adams on Sunday.They were arrested on charges of carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a firearm with a defaced serial number and carrying ammunition without a firearms identification card._










I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s unfortunate that he died. But please, spare me the hardworking, kind and generous routine when he’s posting about being “still on that gangsta shit so don’t rub me wrong.” 









The *GoFundMe* that raised almost $15,000 blames police for his death and said he had a “bright future” and worked for Habitat for Humanity. 










Bright future? He just got arrested for gun charges and was pulling knives on his girlfriend when he was blackout drunk. If he was mentally ill to the point where he had to have the cops called on him because he pulled knives on women and threatened to cut himself then his future wasn’t that bright to begin with. If he really was suffering from mental illness that sucks, but this idea that it gives people like this free reign to butcher cops needs to end.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

I think we ALL appreciate seeing this stuff on MassCops, but GODDAMMIT, this stuff has to be put out there on the MEDIA! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO "EQUAL TIME"? If the family is allowed to lie or exaggerate things, then why aren't these departments getting right out there, full on media blitz to tell the truth? I'm so sick of this shit. 

After the OIS in JP this morning, the Suffolk DA was on TV saying, I have to paraphrase, but, saying, "When a man has an accident, then runs from the police and then fires at them, I find it troubling." Again, paraphrasing. He did NOT immediately bash the cops or even QUESTION their actions, Awesome change, but stronger words were warranted in my opinion. I know, I know, early stages of the investigation and all, but everyone wants TRANSPARENCY, well, it applied both ways, that means, even if the criminal/decedent, looks bad.

I repeat, GODDAMMIT!

I like how the NYC Patrolman's union president handles press conferences. We need more of that nationwide.


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

Media is all about the drama and over-paid Sport and Entertainment "heroes". Do we really need to wonder where such a tangible portion of BS our kids are absorbing comes from? Couple that with the Higher "Indoctrination " performed on them by the schools they attend. Absolute shame.


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