The mother of Noel Polanco, the young Army National Guardsman shot and killed by an NYPD officer last week, is calling for a full investigation into her son’s death.
Cecilia Reyes met this morning with Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, whose office is investigating the Oct. 4 incident, where an unarmed Polanco, 23, was fatally shot by Detective Hassan Hamdy during a traffic stop along Grand Central Parkway. Hamdy said he thought Polanco, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, was reaching for a weapon.
Stanford Rubenstein, an attorney for Reyes, said the grieving mother, who will attend her son’s funeral on Friday, wants Hamdy held accountable if an independent investigation determines that he committed a crime when he shot her son.
“She wants justice for her son,” Rubenstein told Metro. “That means if a criminal act was committed by this police officer, which caused a wrongful death, she wants him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
When asked whether Reyes is considering filing a lawsuit against the city, Rubenstein responded, “She is emotionally distressed. At this point, any civil matters are furthest thing from mind.”
He added that the case will likely go to a grand jury, which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly publicly suggested earlier this week. Queens District Attorney Brown also reiterated that today.
“I told them that when we conclude our investigation I expect that we will present all of the facts to the grand jury,” Brown said in a statement.