Dec 17, 2020
In a notice of claim filed this week, former Rochester Police Chief La Ron Singletary says Mayor Lovely Warren asked him to withhold full and truthful information from the City Council investigation into Daniel Prude s death. Singletary claims other city officials also pressured him to support the mayor s version of events. Prude died in March, one week after being restrained by Rochester Police on Jefferson Avenue. The incident did not become public until September, setting off protests, demonstrations, and a staff shake-up within RPD. Singletary said he was informed during a press conference on Sept. 14 that the mayor had announced to the public that today is Chief Singletary s last day. He says it was a retaliatory move.
Created: December 17, 2020 05:50 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) In his lawsuit against the City of Rochester and Mayor Lovely Warren, fired Rochester Police Chief La Ron Singletary quotes Mayor Warren as saying she would never ask him to lie. But the lawsuit alleges that s what the mayor asked him to do.
This all stems from the death of Daniel Prude in Rochester Police custody and everything that s happened since that day in March.
This story is focused on a meeting described in Singletary s lawsuit between the mayor and the former chief the day before Singletary suddenly announced his retirement.
News10NBC
It is also focused on what the mayor says she knew about Prude s death and what the chief says she knew.
WHECTV Created: December 16, 2020 08:37 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) Former Rochester Police Department Chief La’Ron Singletary is moving to sue the city for defamation of character, hostile work environment and wrongful and retaliatory termination.
The notice of claim was made public Wednesday night.
It claims Mayor Lovely Warren made false claims and material omissions about Singletary’s performance as police chief and handling of the Daniel Prude case, which have damaged his reputation for honesty integrity and truthfulness.
Police picked up Prude on a mental health call on March 23. He died in the hospital a week later. The Monroe County Medical Examiner ruled he died of lack of oxygen and had the drug PCP in his system and classified his death as a homicide.
Created: December 16, 2020 06:04 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) When the City of Rochester s Office of Public Integrity released its report on the actions of Mayor Lovely Warren and her senior city manager concerning the death of Daniel Prude, the report said it did not have direct access to certain text messages from the police chief to the mayor.
Why? Because the texts were sent to the mayor s personal cell phone.
So News10NBC looked into whether those texts are public records.
The short answer, based on conversations with First Amendment attorneys and the state s Committee on Open Government, is yes.
Mayor Lovely Warren (left) and La Ron Singletary (right).
Former Rochester Police Department Chief La’Ron Singletary claims Mayor Lovely Warren told him to lie to support her version of events surrounding the death of Daniel Prude. His assertion was made in a notice of claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, that Singletary filed recently against the city outlining his intent to sue. In it, Singletary alleged that Warren ordered him, and other city officials pressured him, to withhold information from the City Council’s investigation into the Prude matter. “Mayor Warren asked me instead to provide false information and omit material information to support the mayor s public narrative concerning her knowledge of events in the matter of Daniel Prude,” the notice of claim read. “I repeatedly refused to lie for the mayor. Pressure to support Mayor Warren’s narrative also came from other city officials.”