The family of a NYPD cop who committed suicide by hanging himself is suing the city, claiming an exhausting overnight shift exacerbated his bipolar disorder and led to his death.
Sergeant Jose L. Benitez had been on the force for nine years when he died on March 10, 2015.
On his last assignment Benitez, 30, worked throughout the night monitoring video cameras in a Brooklyn housing project.
The Manhattan Supreme Court suit says the department was aware of his condition and that treating the disease required a regular routine and abundance of sleep.
Yet NYPD brass “negligently assigned him to a position that would become a trigger for his eventual demise,” according to court papers.
The suit — for permission to file a late notice of claim against the city — is a precursor to a wrongful death case.
Benitez’s younger brother, Valentin Benitez, says in an affidavit that the suicide threw the family into “such tumult that we have missed filing dates.”
The police officer left behind a 1-year-old child.
The family’s attorney said Benitez graduated second in his class from the police academy and was an “exemplary officer.”
A city Law Department spokesman said the petition will be reviewed.