New York Attorney General Letitia James will not bring charges against a Suffolk County police officer who shot and killed a man in Manorville last year.
In May 2021, after neighbors called 9-1-1, Officer James Skidmore woke Jesse Bonsignore who was sleeping in his car. According to the attorney general’s report, Skidmore told Bonsignore to stay in his car while he called for backup. The report said Bonsignore got out of the car and reached for a pocket knife in his waistband. During a struggle for officer Skidmore’s gun, Skidmore shot.
In its report, the Office of Special Investigation said it conducted civilian interviews, reviewed civilian security video, radio and 9-1-1 audio and a firearm analysis. Skidmore was not wearing a body camera and his cruiser did not have a dashboard camera. The report concluded that had Skidmore been wearing a body camera, there would have been a clearer picture of the incident.
Suffolk County began rolling out its body camera program two months ago. At the time, officials expected all officers to be wearing cameras by the end of 2022.
