Former police chief says Rochester mayor pressured him to lie about his response to Daniel Prude's death

BY VICTORIA ALBERT
DECEMBER 17, 2020 / 10:10 PM / CBS NEWS

Former Rochester, New York, Police Chief La'Ron Singletary has accused the city's mayor of pressuring him to lie about the series of events following the death of Daniel Prude and firing him after he refused. Prude, a Black man, died in March after Rochester police put a spit sock over his head and pressed his face into the ground for more than three minutes while he was naked and handcuffed, according to body camera footage and documents filed by his family.

The circumstances surrounding Prude's death were not made public until September, when the family released the bodycam footage and supporting evidence. The six-month delay raised questions about why his death was not previously disclosed to the public.

In a press conference the next day and in multiple interviews thereafter, Mayor Lovely Warren claimed Singletary told her that Prude died of a PCP overdose, said she had not seen the video footage of his arrest until August, and argued that Singletary downplayed the circumstances surrounding Prude's death.

"l have addressed with police Chief La'Ron Singletary how deeply disappointed I am in him personally and professionally for failing to fully and accurately inform me about what occurred to Mr. Prude," Warren said at the time. Singletary announced his resignation days later — but weeks before he was set to officially leave, he was fired.

But in his notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, Singletary claims that he was fired because he refused to lie to the City Council to support Warren's narrative that she had been misinformed about Prude's death.

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