new york police department

NYC Teen Suspected of Smoking Cannabis Dies After Falling from Building to Escape Police

By Reuters

Hakeem Kuta.
Hakeem Kuta.
NEW YORK, NY — A 17-year-old boy died on Saturday from injuries he sustained falling six stories from a New York City building rooftop as he tried to escape police investigating a report of teenagers smoking marijuana, law enforcement said.

Hakeem Kuta, of the Bronx, died Saturday morning after being in critical condition for nearly two days, police said.

Kuta fell from a roof ledge as he and a 14-year-old friend attempted to escape police, who repeatedly told the teens to stop and “relax,” a spokesman for the New York City Police Department said.

Read moreNYC Teen Suspected of Smoking Cannabis Dies After Falling from Building to Escape Police

Brooklyn District Attorney to Immediately Stop Most Low-Level Cannabis Prosecutions

Brooklyn, New York District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced in a memo released Tuesday that his office would no longer be prosecuting most low-level cannabis offenses, a policy change which is staunchly opposed by the New York Police Department.

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson.

Under the new policy, which takes effect immediately. Thompson’s office will no longer prosecute cannabis possession charges when the individual has no prior criminal record, or at least no violent record. The policy change will include charges where a person is caught possessing cannabis in public due to the New York’s Police Department’s (NYPD) infamous ‘stop and frisk’ policy; smoking cannabis in public however, may still be prosecuted.

Read moreBrooklyn District Attorney to Immediately Stop Most Low-Level Cannabis Prosecutions