kid from A Bronx Tale and Sopranos held for killing NYC cop
Not sure if you non new yorkers heard about this. Two cops killed in two weeks here. Fortuantely they were the only ones so far this year.
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http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=3712776
(New York - AP, December 10, 2005)
An off-duty police officer was shot and killed in the driveway of his Bronx home Saturday during a fierce pre-dawn gunfight with two burglars - one of
them an actor who once starred opposite Robert De Niro and later appeared on "The Sopranos," authorities said.
Daniel Enchautegui, 28, a three-year veteran, was pronounced dead at the Jacobi Medical Center following a shootout with the suspects at about 5:15
a.m. on Arnow Place in the Pelham Bay section, said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Both of the suspects were shot and wounded when the mortally
wounded officer returned fire.
He was the second officer to die in the line of duty in two weeks.
"This is a loss to the department and the city," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined Kelly at the hospital. "We now have another life to mourn,
taken from us for no sensible reason."
One of the two suspects was identified by police as Lillo Brancato Jr., an actor who made his debut in the De Niro-directed film "A Bronx Tale" back
in 1993. Brancato played De Niro's son in the movie about a boy coming of age in a Mafia-dominated neighborhood.
Brancato, 29, of Yonkers, appeared in several episodes of "The Sopranos" in 1999-2000 as Matt Bevilacqua, a mob wannabe who was eventually murdered.
Brancato was arrested in June for criminal possession of a controlled substance after police found him carrying four glassine bags of heroin.
Enchautegui had returned home after finishing a late shift at the 40th Precinct when he heard breaking glass in an unoccupied house next door, Kelly
said. The officer first called his landlord about the incident, then called 911 to report a possible burglary in process.
The officer grabbed his off-duty weapon and went outside to investigate. His landlord heard Enchautegui shout, "Police! Don't move!", followed by a
burst of gunfire, Kelly said.
The officer was struck once in the chest with a bullet from a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver. Before collapsing in the driveway of the
home, the officer returned fire and struck both of the suspects - one was hit twice, the other four times.
A police car on routine patrol in the Bronx neighborhood arrested Brancato as he was getting into a car, police said. The second suspect, Steven
Armento of Yonkers, was arrested as he ran from the scene; police identified him as the gunman, and he was carrying a handgun when he was picked up.
Both suspects were taken into custody without incident, and were at Jacobi in serious condition, Kelly said.
Although police initially used dogs and a helicopter to search for other suspects, Kelly said it appeared only the two wounded men were involved.
Subway trains on the No. 6 elevated line were stopped for several hours as the search continued.
Enchautegui was single, and he was survived by his parents and a sister. Kelly praised the slain officer for his "incomprehensible courage."
The subway tracks were across the street from the shooting scene on Arnow Place - a quiet, tree-lined block of red brick homes in the residential,
working-class neighborhood near the Bronx Botanical Gardens.
Around the corner, on Bruckner Boulevard, is the Zoodohos Peghe Greek Orthodox Church.
The shooting was the fourth involving police officers since mid-November.
Officer Dillon Stewart was shot in the heart on Nov. 28 during a car chase in Brooklyn and killed by a bullet that missed his protective vest and
entered his armpit.
A suspect in that shooting was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in a separate shooting that wounded another officer
nine days earlier.
On Tuesday, two state troopers were wounded and an armed drug suspect was shot and killed during a pre-dawn raid in the Bronx. The troopers were part
of a heavily armed SWAT team assisting investigators from the Westchester district attorney's office, the FBI and other agencies.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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