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In Video, Officer Runs as Partner Is Shot, Police Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/n...&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
A surveillance video shows that the partner of a police officer who was shot three times during a car stop last week in Brooklyn ran away and, for several minutes, failed to help the wounded officer, a police official said yesterday.
The actions of the partner, Officer Gilberto T. Marrero, are under investigation by the Police Department's Firearms Discharge Review Board as part of its routine inquiry into the shooting, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way.
Officer Marrero, a 12-year veteran, could face dismissal if the board concludes that he did flee while his partner was under fire and the department brings charges against him for dereliction of duty, the official said.
The wounded officer, Patrick Caprice, 42, was saved by his bulletproof vest when the gunman, armed with a .45-caliber pistol, fired at him five times, striking him three times in the vest, the police said. A bullet fragment from one of those rounds slipped beneath the protective fabric and pierced his small intestine, requiring surgery. A family friend said he remains hospitalized, but expects to be released on Thursday.
A surveillance camera mounted on the side of a housing development near the corner of Dumont Avenue and Chester Street captured much of the shooting and its aftermath.
In the ranks of the department, the charge that a police officer deserted a partner under fire is among the most serious accusations that can be leveled. But several officials could not recall a case in which an officer's questionable behavior was caught on video.
"As soon as the shots are fired, he's running down the block," the official said. "There was an opportunity to take action and he failed to take it."
Although Officer Marrero fled, the official said, he did broadcast a signal 10-13 over his radio, the most urgent police code announcing an officer in need of assistance, and reported that they had been fired upon. But he failed to help the wounded officer until a police van with another officer arrived on the scene several minutes later, the official said.
The department has yet to take any action against Officer Marrero, who was questioned in a formal hearing about the incident, the official said. But the officer, who reported that he was sick after the shooting, was directed not to return to work, and his guns were taken from him, the official said. He will remain at home until the investigation is concluded, the official said.
Officer Marrero, who has had no other disciplinary problems, did not respond to telephone messages left at his home and with a family member last night, and a spokesman for the police union that represents him, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, declined to comment. A woman who identified herself as Officer Marrero's sister but would not give her name said that her brother's version of events was the same as that offered by the Police Department, but declined to discuss the details.
The incident began about 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday when the two uniformed officers, assigned to the 73rd Precinct, saw a man buy marijuana on Grafftan Street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and drive away, the police said. The officers chased the man through several red lights and pulled him over on Dumont Avenue between Bristol and Chester Streets, the police said.
Officer Caprice, who was driving the patrol car, pulled up behind the man's 1998 gold Ford Contour and he and his partner got out and began moving toward the man's car. Officer Caprice walked up along the driver's side and Officer Marrero on the passenger side, the police said.
When the patrolmen were both even with the rear doors of the car, the man inside reached over his left shoulder and pointed his Heckler & Koch pistol out the driver's side window and fired once at Officer Caprice, sending him staggering back, the police said. The man, who was later identified as David Redden, 18, with no previous criminal record, then got out of the car, and first went around his open car door toward the front of the car, apparently to flee, according to the police.
But the police said he apparently saw that Officer Caprice was in trouble and came back to get into his car, firing again at the fallen officer. Officer Caprice was able to rise on one knee and return fire, emptying his Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, striking the car and hitting Mr. Redden in the hip and arm, the police said. Mr. Redden then drove off.
By this time, investigators believe, Officer Marrero had already run several car lengths away and had taken cover behind a parked car.
Several hours later, Mr. Redden, after crashing his car, killed himself in a friend's apartment, the police said.
Last night, Officer Caprice's father, Charles Caprice, declined to comment through a family friend who answered the door at the family's home near Prospect Park. But the friend, a neighbor, Louis Lubin, 53, said Officer Caprice did not yet know about the questions that have been raised about his partner's conduct.
Mr. Lubin added: "We're waiting for all the information to come in. Maybe he was waiting behind the car to assess the situation. I'm pretty sure that this guy was using the best judgment he had. Until the facts are in, we won't make any comment."
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/n...&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
A surveillance video shows that the partner of a police officer who was shot three times during a car stop last week in Brooklyn ran away and, for several minutes, failed to help the wounded officer, a police official said yesterday.
The actions of the partner, Officer Gilberto T. Marrero, are under investigation by the Police Department's Firearms Discharge Review Board as part of its routine inquiry into the shooting, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way.
Officer Marrero, a 12-year veteran, could face dismissal if the board concludes that he did flee while his partner was under fire and the department brings charges against him for dereliction of duty, the official said.
The wounded officer, Patrick Caprice, 42, was saved by his bulletproof vest when the gunman, armed with a .45-caliber pistol, fired at him five times, striking him three times in the vest, the police said. A bullet fragment from one of those rounds slipped beneath the protective fabric and pierced his small intestine, requiring surgery. A family friend said he remains hospitalized, but expects to be released on Thursday.
A surveillance camera mounted on the side of a housing development near the corner of Dumont Avenue and Chester Street captured much of the shooting and its aftermath.
In the ranks of the department, the charge that a police officer deserted a partner under fire is among the most serious accusations that can be leveled. But several officials could not recall a case in which an officer's questionable behavior was caught on video.
"As soon as the shots are fired, he's running down the block," the official said. "There was an opportunity to take action and he failed to take it."
Although Officer Marrero fled, the official said, he did broadcast a signal 10-13 over his radio, the most urgent police code announcing an officer in need of assistance, and reported that they had been fired upon. But he failed to help the wounded officer until a police van with another officer arrived on the scene several minutes later, the official said.
The department has yet to take any action against Officer Marrero, who was questioned in a formal hearing about the incident, the official said. But the officer, who reported that he was sick after the shooting, was directed not to return to work, and his guns were taken from him, the official said. He will remain at home until the investigation is concluded, the official said.
Officer Marrero, who has had no other disciplinary problems, did not respond to telephone messages left at his home and with a family member last night, and a spokesman for the police union that represents him, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, declined to comment. A woman who identified herself as Officer Marrero's sister but would not give her name said that her brother's version of events was the same as that offered by the Police Department, but declined to discuss the details.
The incident began about 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday when the two uniformed officers, assigned to the 73rd Precinct, saw a man buy marijuana on Grafftan Street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and drive away, the police said. The officers chased the man through several red lights and pulled him over on Dumont Avenue between Bristol and Chester Streets, the police said.
Officer Caprice, who was driving the patrol car, pulled up behind the man's 1998 gold Ford Contour and he and his partner got out and began moving toward the man's car. Officer Caprice walked up along the driver's side and Officer Marrero on the passenger side, the police said.
When the patrolmen were both even with the rear doors of the car, the man inside reached over his left shoulder and pointed his Heckler & Koch pistol out the driver's side window and fired once at Officer Caprice, sending him staggering back, the police said. The man, who was later identified as David Redden, 18, with no previous criminal record, then got out of the car, and first went around his open car door toward the front of the car, apparently to flee, according to the police.
But the police said he apparently saw that Officer Caprice was in trouble and came back to get into his car, firing again at the fallen officer. Officer Caprice was able to rise on one knee and return fire, emptying his Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, striking the car and hitting Mr. Redden in the hip and arm, the police said. Mr. Redden then drove off.
By this time, investigators believe, Officer Marrero had already run several car lengths away and had taken cover behind a parked car.
Several hours later, Mr. Redden, after crashing his car, killed himself in a friend's apartment, the police said.
Last night, Officer Caprice's father, Charles Caprice, declined to comment through a family friend who answered the door at the family's home near Prospect Park. But the friend, a neighbor, Louis Lubin, 53, said Officer Caprice did not yet know about the questions that have been raised about his partner's conduct.
Mr. Lubin added: "We're waiting for all the information to come in. Maybe he was waiting behind the car to assess the situation. I'm pretty sure that this guy was using the best judgment he had. Until the facts are in, we won't make any comment."
Janon Fisher contributed reporting for this article.
