Louis Tramunti’s Wife Thought He Was Having a Heart Attack. So Why Did the Police Break His Back?
When Louis Tramunti’s wife called 911, she wanted EMTs to save her husband’s life after a heart attack. Instead, two policemen threw him to the floor and broke his back. It was just one of those things; didn’t even make the papers. Louis, an old friend of an old friend of mine, called me nearly a year later because “people need to know about this, bro,” which didn’t thrill his attorney. “I’m not typically a PR lawyer,” said Steven Falkoff when I called. “It’s a basic fact pattern and excessive-force case. I don’t know how much sexiness there is for a broader story.” To Louis—a good-natured if foul-mouthed 37-year-old Bernie-supporting son of Whitestone, a corner of Queens untouched by gentrification or even integration—it’s the only story. He’s been married for seven years to Szilvia, a lovely Hungarian immigrant whose calmness evens out his off-the-walls hyperactivity, and he’s worked for more than 15 years as a plumbing surveyor, making good union wages mapping out where the sleev...