The family of a man who died after an NYPD confrontation that began over an open beer can alleges officers used excessive deadly force, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Shelton Ennis, a 54-year-old reputed former inmate who was on parole, died on June 26, 2025, after NYPD probationary Officer Karl Yelenic chased and tackled him during what initially appeared to be a routine encounter in Upper Manhattan, court documents state.
“[Ennis] lived in the area. He was enjoying a pleasant night,” family attorney Michael Pecorella told The Post. “There’s no reason why it should have had to end this way.”
Body-camera footage shows Yelenic and Officer Marc Leandre leaving their patrol vehicle near Riverside Drive and West 136th Street before approaching Ennis. He was leaning against a stone wall near Riverside Park and carrying a black plastic bag.
Ennis, who had once faced an attempted-murder charge and served nearly 26 years for violent drug offenses before apparently working to rebuild his life, had seemingly just thrown away a beer can, according to the New York Daily News.
“Why you throw it away?” Leandre asked.
Ennis said the can was empty, but Leandre asked him four more times why he had discarded it, the video shows.
Leandre then requested Ennis’ identification. Ennis replied that his ID was in his nearby apartment, according to the footage.
“I’m not bothering nobody,” Ennis told the officers.
“I just came out the house for a little second to relax before I go to work tomorrow,” Ennis said. Coworkers told the News he worked as a “residents’ assistant” at the Skyline Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen.
When officers asked for his name, Ennis falsely identified himself as Cedrick Ennis, according to the state attorney general’s report on his death.
The video shows Ennis repeatedly telling the officers that he would show them his identification if they escorted him to his apartment.
“We don’t do that. … The thing we do, we take people back to the precinct, and you can call someone. … Drinking in public is a violation,” Leandre said in the body-camera video.
Ennis responded, “Call your sergeant.”
“I’m not going nowhere.”
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Moments later, the footage shows Ennis begin running between the two officers.
Yelenic chased Ennis and tackled him from behind, bringing him to the ground, according to the video.
After Yelenic got back to his feet, footage from his body camera showed Ennis lying unconscious and face-down on the pavement.
“Rather than render emergency and immediate aid, defendant officer Leandre immediately handcuffed Shelton behind his back,” the lawsuit alleges.
The officers called an ambulance after handcuffing the unconscious Ennis, and he was taken to a hospital.
Medical records said Ennis lost his pulse while in the ambulance. He was pronounced dead after arriving at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital.
The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be hemopericardium due to blunt impact to the chest.
The ME ruled the death a homicide, although that does not indicate a crime has occurred. Acts of self-defense and the lawful use of force by police are two examples of homicide, or a death involving another person, that would not necessarily result in criminal liability.
The state attorney general’s office, which must conduct probes into every death involving some kind of police action, interviewed Yelenic, who said his intent was to apprehend and handcuff Ennis, not to tackle him and make him fall.
At the time of the incident, Yelenic was a probationary officer who joined the NYPD less than a year before. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division, which probes cop-involved incidents, is still looking into the case, officials said.
The Police Department would not say whether the officers are still on the job.
The AG’s investigatory unit has already decided not to seek charges against anyone, concluding that there was not significant evidence to prove that Yelenic’s force was unlawful.
“There is no evidence that the officer intended to cause injury, nor evidence of criminal recklessness or criminal negligence under the law,” the report stated.
But in the lawsuit filed by Ennis’s family Sept. 22, the dead man’s brother, Aaron Ennis, who is being repped by the law firm Fredson Statmore Bitterman, alleges numerous civil-rights violations by the city and the two involved officers, including over the use of force, reputed negligence and alleged unlawful stop.
“We’re hoping that you know the city does the right thing for this family,” Pecorella said.