{"id":369008,"date":"2026-10-09T16:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369008\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T16:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:02:13","slug":"family-of-brooklyn-man-who-died-in-nypd-custody-asks-judge-for-precinct-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/369008\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of Brooklyn man who died in NYPD custody asks judge for precinct video"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of a Brooklyn man who died in NYPD custody<\/a> over the weekend is asking a judge to order the city to turn over video and records from the roughly day and a half he spent in police hands, a stretch that included two trips to the hospital, records show.<\/p>\n

Reginald Newkirk, 54, was arrested on Oct. 2 for drug possession in East Flatbush, according to a police timeline. NYPD officials said he showed withdrawal symptoms the following Saturday morning and was taken to SUNY Downstate for medical attention.<\/p>\n

Police said the hospital discharged him and he returned to the NYPD\u2019s 67th Precinct. About three hours later, officers called EMS for a \u201csick\u201d prisoner, according to the NYPD. Newkirk was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead early Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe passed away in police custody, and we don’t understand why,\u201d said his brother, Bruce Newkirk. \u201cWe would like justice and we would like information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce Newkirk filed a petition in Brooklyn state Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking information as the family investigates the circumstances of his brother\u2019s death. The petition asks the court to order the city and NYPD to turn over the names of officers who interacted with Newkirk, along with body camera and precinct surveillance footage. It also seeks to preserve other records and evidence as the family considers a wrongful-death claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was well enough to be discharged, but he wasn’t well enough to survive the night,\u201d said Marc Battipaglia, a lawyer for the family.<\/p>\n

Relatives described Newkirk as kind-hearted and a regular at family barbecues and holidays at a cousin\u2019s house on Staten Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I\u2019d seen him, he was in good spirits,\u201d said his daughter, Jadasia Hughes. \u201cHe was always joking around. He wanted to take me places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce Newkirk said a doctor at Kings County told the family that blood work showed heroin in his brother\u2019s system. He said the family was surprised because they did not know Newkirk used heroin. Gothamist could not independently verify what the family was told.<\/p>\n

The NYPD declined to comment beyond information it previously provided about Newkirk\u2019s time in custody. The department\u2019s Force Investigation Division is investigating his death.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for SUNY Downstate declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The city’s chief medical examiner has not yet determined Newkirk\u2019s cause or manner of death.<\/p>\n

Newkirk is at least the sixth person<\/a> this year to die after a medical emergency in NYPD custody. In April, Zamiqua Miller, 33, died at Brooklyn Central Booking after police said she was twice taken to hospitals for withdrawal symptoms and discharged<\/a> back to police custody. The medical examiner later attributed her death to acute intoxication from a combination of fentanyl, methadone, cocaine and another substance.<\/p>\n

The medical examiner has ruled three NYPD custody deaths this year accidents, with acute drug intoxication<\/a> listed among the causes in each case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a Brooklyn man who died in NYPD custody over the weekend is asking a judge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-369008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}