Venezuelan man indicted for shooting two NYPD officers: officials
NEW YORK (PIX11) -- The man who allegedly shot two NYPD officers at point-blank range has been indicted on a litany of charges including two counts of attempted murder in the first degree.
According to police, the 19-year-old is a migrant from Venezuela.
On Wednesday, Bernardo Raul Castro Mata entered a courtroom filled with NYPD officers in a wheelchair.
The 19-year-old was arraigned on the grand jury indictment and is now facing 20 charges.
The charges stem from an early morning incident on June 3 where Mata was allegedly driving the wrong way on Ditmars Boulevard near 90th Street on an unregistered motorcycle.
When three uniformed officers tried to stop him, police say he ran off.
Two of the officers caught up to him and tried to place him under arrest, that's when it’s alleged Mata shot Officers Christopher Abreu and Richard Yarusso.
Assistant District Attorney Lauren D. Reilly of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau said in court, “He took out the firearm from that bag pointed it at Officer Yarusso and shot him once in the bulletproof vest and the turned the gun on Officer Abreu and shot him in the upper right thigh.”
Officer Abreu then fired back- striking Mata in the foot and ankle.
Police say Mata is a migrant from Venezuela who entered the U.S. illegally last summer and was living in a shelter in Queens.
In court, the Queens Assistant District Attorney said after his arrest, Mata told detectives he was a member of a Venezuelan gang and that when he got to the shelter, he was recruited to do robberies and given a firearm.
The assistant DA says he told detectives he was returning from work as a delivery person on the night of the incident, with that gun on him.
Reilly said, “I knew there was a gun in the bag. When the cops stopped me, I ran because I was scared. I stopped and took out the gun to show the officer and a round went off and that’s when the cop shot me. I did not pull the trigger.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz commended the cops after the arraignment.
“If they had not caught him, there would be no way to find him. That’s a big part of this too. We need to make sure we have the registration to identify people when they are committing crimes.”
The police union adds the two injured officers are still recovering. “They’re in good spirits, they’re battling every day. We need anyone who attacks a police officer to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and then they need to be deported,” said Patrick Hendry, president of the PBA.
Mata has pled not guilty to all charges. He was remanded without bail.
Supreme Court Judge Kenneth Holder has ordered him back in court on September 16.