[h1]Asthma anguish[/h1]
By AMBER SUTHERLAND, JAMIE SCHRAM and DAN MANGAN
Last Updated: 10:46 AM, September 2, 2010
Posted: 2:34 AM, September 2, 2010
The Brooklyn girl whose life was tragically cut short when a cop allegedly ignored her frantic mom's pleas for help was laid to rest yesterday at a funeral attended by hundreds of mourners -- all dressed in white.
Briana Ojeda, 11, had suffered a severe asthma attack in a Carroll Gardens park Friday and her mom, Carmen, was rushing her by car to Long Island College Hospital.
She turned the wrong way on a one-way street and encountered Officer Alfonso Mendez, who she claimed smirked and told her, "I don't do CPR."
A sea of white filled St. Francis Xavier Church in Park Slope after Briana's older brother, Michael Jr., posted a request on his Facebook page, noting the color white represents the innocence of childhood.
Briana's weeping dad, Michael, addressed his daughter in an emotional tribute as he stood next to her white coffin.
"Your love is still our guide; though we cannot see you, you are always by our side," he said.
"Our family chain is broken now . . . the chain will be again."
After the service, the coffin was carried to a white carriage drawn by two white horses and taken to Evergreen Cemetery, where white doves and balloons were released.
"She was a wonderful little girl," said her teacher, Rebecca Roldan.
"I wish all my students were like her. She was so nice to everyone. She was never mean. She was always smiling."
Mendez has been suspended by the NYPD, but officials said he won't be criminally charged.
Briana's mom claims that instead of helping, Mendez wasted precious time by trying to give her a ticket after she side swiped a parked car and briefly boxed her to keep her from leaving.
But Mendez told investigators that when he pulled up, he saw a good Samaritan performing CPR on Briana, who had on an oxygen mask her mother always carried in the car because of her daughter's condition.
Mendez admitted saying he didn't know CPR, but said he escorted the mother and daughter to the hospital with his emergency lights on and sirens roaring. By the time they arrived, it was too late.
All cops learn CPR at the Police Academy.
Cops said Mendez failed to follow a rule requiring him to report being at the scene of an accident where people asked for help.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona
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