(NEW YORK CITY) Hundreds of mourners dressed in white today attended the funeral of an 11-year-old girl who died after her mother had a run-in with police on the way to the hospital.
Briana Ojeda, of Brooklyn, New York, was being rushed to hospital on Friday by her mother as she struggled to breathe while suffering a severe asthma attack.
Her mother, Carmen, frantically turned the wrong way down a one-way street and crashed into another car.
A police officer was called to the scene, and Mrs Ojeda claimed she begged him for help.
But, she claimed, he said he did not know CPR - and tried to detain her and give her a ticket.
He finally drove the pair to a nearby hospital, but it was too late for the young girl.
Mrs Ojeda's story sparked a NYPD-wide manhunt for the officer in question.
But when he was finally tracked down, Alfonso Mendez had a different story, the New York Post claimed.
He did admit telling Mrs Ojeda he did not know CPR - but said that when he arrived on the scene, a good Samaritan was already giving Briana CPR.
He also said she had on an oxygen mask. Mrs Ojeda carried a tank of oxygen in her car for her daughter, the New York Post said.
As mourners released white doves for Briana at the funeral today, NYPD said Mendez, 30, had been suspended without pay.
But a spokesman told the Post that he would not be criminally charged. Police are still investigating the claims.
Mendez has not yet commented on the accusations.
But his wife, Damaris, told to WCBS/Channel 2 that 'he did what he could for [Briana]'.
'He's destroyed,' she said.
'We have a little girl. I'm very sorry to her mother. If he could have done more, he would have.'
Tears flowed at the funeral in New York today as Briana's father, Michael Ojeda, read a poem in front of his daughter's white coffin.
'You're always by our side,' he read. 'Our family chain is broken now... the chain will be again.
The coffin was carried in a white buggy drawn by two white horses to a Brooklyn ceremony.
In addition to the white doves, mourners were given white balloons which they released into the sky.
Marin County sheriff's deputies turned a Taser on Peter McFarland when he refused to go to the hospital and allegedly became belligerent.
"These are deadly weapons, and he had a heart condition," McFarland's attorney, John Scott, told "Good Morning America." " He could have easily been killed here."
McFarland can be seen screaming in agony on a police video, lying on the floor as the officers pumped high-powered volts of electricity into his back.
Scott said his client has recovered physically from the June 2009 incident, but that he's suing not only for compensation for his injuries but also to raise awareness about the "use of Tasers in situations where force is not warranted."
Briana Ojeda, of Brooklyn, New York, was being rushed to hospital on Friday by her mother as she struggled to breathe while suffering a severe asthma attack.
Her mother, Carmen, frantically turned the wrong way down a one-way street and crashed into another car.
A police officer was called to the scene, and Mrs Ojeda claimed she begged him for help.
But, she claimed, he said he did not know CPR - and tried to detain her and give her a ticket.
He finally drove the pair to a nearby hospital, but it was too late for the young girl.
Mrs Ojeda's story sparked a NYPD-wide manhunt for the officer in question.
But when he was finally tracked down, Alfonso Mendez had a different story, the New York Post claimed.
He did admit telling Mrs Ojeda he did not know CPR - but said that when he arrived on the scene, a good Samaritan was already giving Briana CPR.
He also said she had on an oxygen mask. Mrs Ojeda carried a tank of oxygen in her car for her daughter, the New York Post said.
As mourners released white doves for Briana at the funeral today, NYPD said Mendez, 30, had been suspended without pay.
But a spokesman told the Post that he would not be criminally charged. Police are still investigating the claims.
Mendez has not yet commented on the accusations.
But his wife, Damaris, told to WCBS/Channel 2 that 'he did what he could for [Briana]'.
'He's destroyed,' she said.
'We have a little girl. I'm very sorry to her mother. If he could have done more, he would have.'
Tears flowed at the funeral in New York today as Briana's father, Michael Ojeda, read a poem in front of his daughter's white coffin.
'You're always by our side,' he read. 'Our family chain is broken now... the chain will be again.
The coffin was carried in a white buggy drawn by two white horses to a Brooklyn ceremony.
In addition to the white doves, mourners were given white balloons which they released into the sky.
Marin County sheriff's deputies turned a Taser on Peter McFarland when he refused to go to the hospital and allegedly became belligerent.
"These are deadly weapons, and he had a heart condition," McFarland's attorney, John Scott, told "Good Morning America." " He could have easily been killed here."
McFarland can be seen screaming in agony on a police video, lying on the floor as the officers pumped high-powered volts of electricity into his back.
Scott said his client has recovered physically from the June 2009 incident, but that he's suing not only for compensation for his injuries but also to raise awareness about the "use of Tasers in situations where force is not warranted."
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