Ex-NFL running back Ryan Grant puts up bail for accused NYPD cop shooter Nelson Pizarro: sources

[The Bobster]

Ex-NFL running back Ryan Grant puts up bail for accused NYPD cop shooter Nelson Pizarro: sources

The relationship between former Green Bay Packer Ryan Grant and accused NYPD cop-shooter Nelson Pizarro wasn’t immediately clear.

nypost.com

Ex-NFL running back Ryan Grant puts up bail for accused NYPD cop shooter Nelson Pizarro: sources​

By
Joe Marino and

Melissa Klein


December 10, 2022 8:23pm
Updated

NYPD Detective Dominick Libretti was shot during a Staten Island drug bust in January. Stefan Jeremiah

​

An ex-con accused of shooting an NYPD detective during a Staten Island drug bust was sprung from jail Wednesday after former Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant helped secure bail, sources told The Post.
Grant was among those who kicked in the $500,000 cash needed to secure a $5 million bond to release Nelson Pizarro, putting up a large portion of the money, sources said.
The move outraged cops.
“The fact that an individual who shot an NYPD detective is walking the streets of our city is a slap in the face to every dedicated member of law enforcement,” said Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives Endowment Association. “What’s more disgraceful is that former NFL player Ryan Grant funded the bail of an attempted cop-killer, drug dealer who pushes his deadly poison in our communities.”
DiGiacomo added, “It begs the question, would Mr. Grant spring this criminal if his family member was the victim or just when it’s a hero detective protecting the public?”
Detective Dominick Libretti was hailed as a hero as he used a ballistic shield to protect himself and his team from the gunfire.NYPD Former Packer Ryan Grant helped bail out Nelson Pizarro. Getty Images
A police veteran said, “A convicted drug dealer with an extensive criminal history who willfully shot a police officer was just released on bail. What else do you need to know about the criminal Justice system today? There is simply no regard for the safety of the public.”
The relationship between Grant and Pizarro wasn’t immediately clear.
The 40-year-old former running back originally from Rockland County played at Notre Dame and signed with the Giants, but never played for them after an off-season injury. He was with the Packers for six seasons from 2007 to 2012 and was on the team that won the 2011 Super Bowl.
He was a co-owner of the former AP Cafe, a Bushwick coffee shop.
Pizarro’s release enraged cops and others in the community.
Pizarro, 40, who had seven prior arrests in New York, was charged in January with shooting Detective Dominick Libretti in the leg during a drug bust at his New Springville home. Pizarro was not the target of the raid, but allegedly started shooting at officers from a bedroom with a 9 mm Beretta handgun.
Libretti was hailed as a hero as he used a ballistic shield to protect himself and his team from the gunfire.
“Even with a serious leg wound, bleeding badly enough that fellow officers had to apply immediate pressure to slow the blood loss, he held a ballistic shield in front of his team to protect them from gunfire,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said after the shooting.
NYPD Supervising Chief Surgeon Eli Kleinman described the detective’s wound as “a possibly a career-ending injury and certainly a life-threatening injury. There’s no such thing as a simple gunshot wound.”
The Staten Island home where Pizarro allegedly shot at NYPD officers. Seth Gottfried
Pizarro was shot in the leg by police returning fire. He was charged with attempted murder among other counts.
Judge Lisa Grey sent Pizarro to jail without bail. But his lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, appealed. In April, the Appellate Division set bail at $2.5 million cash and $5 million bond.
Lazzaro said Saturday that friends and family members put up the 10% cash outlay to secure the bond and he didn’t know if Grant was among them. He said Pizarro was now on home confinement.
“Unfortunately the Appellate Division got this wrong and made a ruling I vigorously disagree with,” Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said. “Pizarro’s release is an obvious example of the absurdity of Albany’s ‘protect the rights of alleged criminals and screw the victims’ approach. It’s another slap to all of our detectives, the entire NYPD, and in particular, the brave officers this defendant nearly killed while they executed a search warrant in our ongoing fight against drug dealers on Staten Island.”
Libretti recently sued the owners of the home where the raid took place, as well as Pizarro and another tenant there. He alleged that the landlords knew illegal activity was taking place at the residence.
Libretti’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
Grant did not return requests for comment.

 

[The Bobster]

Shot NYPD hero rips ex-con’s release with ex-NFL player’s help as ‘absolutely insane’

Ex-con Nelson Pizarro, 40 — who has seven prior busts under his belt — is accused of shooting hero NYPD Detective Dominick Libretti during a drug bust at his home.

nypost.com

Shot NYPD hero rips ex-con’s release with ex-NFL player’s help as ‘absolutely insane’​

By
Tina Moore


December 12, 2022 6:09pm
Updated









The hero NYPD detective who was allegedly shot by an ex-con — only to watch the suspect get bailed out with the help of a former NFL player — calls the situation “absolutely insane.
“That’s the cherry on the cake of the worst crime in New York you could ever think of — a cop getting shot,” wounded Detective Dominick Libretti, 34, told a pal, who recounted the conversation to The Post on Monday.
“And the [accused shooter] is out walking around?
“I think the whole thing is absolutely insane,’’ said Libretti, who still only has about 40% feeling in his right leg from January’s Staten Island shooting, to his friend.
Ex-con Nelson Pizarro, 40 — who has seven prior busts under his belt — is accused of shooting Libretti during a drug bust at his home.
Pizarro wasn’t the target of the bust but allegedly shot the detective from a bedroom with a 9mm Beretta.
Libretti has been hailed a hero for using his ballistics shield to save his team from the hail of gunfire.
Detective Dominick Libretti is released from the hospital in January. Stefan Jeremiah
His alleged shooter was being held on $5 million bond till Wednesday, when supporters including former Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant helped foot his $500,000 cash bail.
Pizarro’s lawyer told The Post that his client is on home confinement.
Law-enforcement sources say they have only been able to determine that Grant and Pizarro are friends, although it’s unclear how the buddies met.
“I think [Grant] is pretty crazy for putting it on his name — to tarnish his own name,’’ Libretti told his friend of the former gridder’s contribution to the suspect’s bail effort.
“At the end of the day, I don’t care how close they are. It’s not like [Pizarro] called and said, ‘Hey, man, I had a [drunken-driving bust] last night.’ This guy shot a cop,’’ Libretti alleged.
Former Green Bay Packer Ryan Grant helped foot the ex-con’s $500,000 cash bail.Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
“You know, even reading the comments on Instagram and Facebook, people saying, ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ — like there’s enough details put out in the paper to say what this guy really did,’’ the injured officer claimed to his friend.
“For [Grant] to side with [Pizarro] is insane to me.”
Libretti is going through physical therapy and “very disturbed and bothered that this guy is free after what he did,” the friend said, quoting the injured officer.
“The nerve damage is pretty extensive, especially now with the cold weather coming around,’’ the cop told his pal.
Ex-con Nelson Pizarro was arrested in the detective’s shooting during a drug bust.

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“It’s been giving me an issue. … So minor things like stubbing your toe feels like I got a big brick dropped on my foot vs. just stubbing your toe.”


Grant has not returned repeated messages from The Post for comment. Pizarro was unable to be reached.