New York Attorney General Letitia James said Tuesday that she will not pursue criminal charges against police in the case of a man who died after he was tackled to the ground by cops during a pursuit inside Manhattan’s Riverside Park.
James’ Office of Special Investigation found no evidence that the officer involved intended to injure Shelton Ennis, an ex-con with an extensive criminal history, when he tackled him, and cleared the officer of all criminal liability.
The officers found Ennis swigging a beer from a paper bag in the park by W. 137th St. and Riverside Drive around 10:05 p.m. on June 26, 2025, officials said.
The cops demanded to see Ennis’ ID, but he repeatedly told them he didn’t have any identification on him while providing a false name and date of birth, according to James’ office.
Shelton Ennis. (Facebook)
When they couldn’t find Ennis in the NYPD’s database from the information he provided, the officers said he would have to come to the precinct to be identified.
Ennis ran off, but one of the officers tackled him. He fell unconscious as he hit the ground.
Though the suspect was breathing when medics arrived, Ennis was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Morningside at 10:49 p.m.
An autopsy later determined that the impact from hitting the ground caused a tear in the wall of Ennis’ heart, which killed him, the AG said.
Because Ennis provided false information and the officers were unable to identify him, they were authorized by law to take him to the precinct and use force to carry out the arrest, James’ office noted.
The investigation into the death additionally found no evidence that the officer acted recklessly or negligently under the law, the AG said.
Riverside Park
Sam Costanza for New York Daily News
Riverside Park in Manhattan. (Sam Costanza for New York Daily News)
Ennis was a parolee who 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 resident 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 at the time of his death. “He got his life together. He was working a job here.”
Ennis had eight arrests on his record, one of them for attempted murder. He ultimately served nearly 26 years in prison on drug charges. His 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.