Police got mixed up in a bereavement call to the wrong family Thursday on Staten Island, New York when they misidentified the victim of a car accident.
Detectives arrived at the door of the family on the morning of Halloween to deliver news that a woman, 44 year-old Denise Owen, was killed after being hit by car, ABC 7 News reported. (RELATED: ‘Exceptional Skill And Commitment’: European Calls Police In Wrong Country, Rescues Boat)
“They said, ‘I’m sorry to inform you but your sister has been killed fatally in a car accident,” Sheila Nagengast, Owen’s sister, told the outlet.
“They flew into the sky, landed on the pavement and their face was unrecognizable,” Nagengast continued. “My question was: how did you identify my sister? They said that there was some sort of ID there, that they were able to identify her.”
Death mix-up leaves Staten Island family in anguish on Halloween morning https://t.co/QhUUoGhmQ6 pic.twitter.com/f6QCiHPOvG
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) November 2, 2024
Nagengast’s sister has been afflicted by schizophrenia and sometmes homeless, according to ABC 7.
The police made an error. As Nagengast met Jonathan D’Agostino, an injury attorney, to discuss suing for wrongful death, her phone rang. Nagengast’s other sister informed her that Owen was still alive and added that she saw her near the intersection where cops had said she was killed.
“She FaceTimed me, and my sister Denise, who was pronounced dead by NYPD, Staten Island Hospital North, the morgue who has all her information and everybody else… the newspapers, is standing directly in front of my sister… alive and well,” she said.
“In 35 years of handling accident cases, I’ve never had this mix-up, I’ve never seen this mix-up,” D’Agostino said. “It takes us from a wrongful death action to a possible action for negligent infliction of emotional distress.”
The police apologized to Nagengast and said they have since fixed the record and paid a visit to the correct family to inform them of the demise of a loved one. The police corrected the mistake 18 hours from the time of the visit. “Nobody should go through what I’ve been through in the last 24 hours… nobody,” Nagengast told the outlet.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
