Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Police records show that NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014, has been earning increased overtime payment in the two years since he was placed on modified duty for the deadly incident. According to figures obtained by Politico NY, between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, the officer received a 35-percent increase in overtime pay, and a 14-percent overall income increase from the previous fiscal year, which began shortly before Garner died after his encounter with Pantaleo and several other officers in Staten Island. The 43-year-old unarmed black man was suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes when Pantaleo put him in the choke hold, causing Garner to famously utter the words “I can’t breathe” during the struggle. Pantaleo was stripped of his gun and badge following the incident, pending an investigation—the outcome of which has not yet been publicly disclosed—and a Staten Staten Island grand jury declined to indict him in December 2014.