The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
Cop’s career in jeopardy after being shot during Staten Island drug bust
Detective Dominick Libretti, suffered a potential “career-ending injury” when Nelson Pizarro, 39, allegedly fired “numerous shots” as police were executing a search warrant.
nypost.com
Cop’s career in jeopardy after being shot during Staten Island drug bust
By
Joe Marino,
Craig McCarthy,
Tina Moore,
Larry Celona and
Amanda Woods
January 20, 2022 6:54am
Updated
An NYPD detective was shot on Staten Island Thursday during a drug bust, in which the wounded officer used a ballistic shield to save both himself and his team from a suspect blasting wildly through a bedroom door, authorities said.
The detective, identified by police sources as Dominick Libretti, suffered a potential “career-ending injury” when Nelson Pizarro, 39, allegedly fired “numerous shots” inside the building on Rockne Street near Ellwood Avenue in Heartland Village around 6 a.m., cops said.
Libretti – a 10-year veteran who has “received numerous medals and commendations” and had never previously fired his weapon on the job – was the second NYPD cop shot in as many days, and the third shot since the start of the year, authorities said.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell hailed the detective as a hero at a morning press conference.
“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,” the top cop said.
Nelson Pizarro is the suspect in the shooting.Police were executing a search warrant at the address when Pizarro, who was not the target of the warrant, opened fire, authorities said.
“As they’re going up the stairs, [cops] see a guy from the back bedroom poke his head out and they’re yelling, “Police! Police! Police! Search warrant!” a police source told the Post. “That guy retreats back into the back bedroom, closes the door, gets the gun and opens fire. That takes about like one second.”
Libretti then turned around to face the bedroom the man ran into, the source said. The shield he was holding ended up saving his life and protecting his fellow cops.
“When the guy opens fire, a lot of those bullets hit the shield and a couple of them went under the shield, which is the one that hit him in the
leg,” the source said.
An NYPD police officer and a suspect were shot early Thursday.Seth Gottfried
Multiple officers returned fire through the door to get Pizzarro — who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds — to back away, police sources said. He was struck in the right inner leg, authorities said.
Libretti was taken in stable condition to Staten Island University North Hospital, where NYPD Supervising Chief Surgeon Eli Kleinman said he will undergo surgery.
“Our detective sustained a gunshot wound to the lower leg in a small compartment area that is populated by large vessels and nerves,” Kleinman said. “This is a possibly a career-ending injury and certainly a life-threatening injury. There’s no such thing as a simple gunshot wound.”
“The officer will be going to the O R because of some complications that have set in, and we’re all praying for his recovery and we expect that he will make a full recovery.”
Pizarro, who also goes by the nickname Pizz, was taken into custody and brought to Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition.
Anthony Marshall was the subject of the search warrant.
He used a 9 mm Beretta handgun – with a magazine that holds up to 17 rounds – which was recovered on scene, according to authorities and police sources.
Pizarro has seven prior arrests in New York State, for aggravated unlicensed operator, criminal possession of a controlled substance, weapons possession and a rap for bringing contraband into prison, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
He also has a gun arrest in Massachusetts from 2001 and a larceny bust in Connecticut, according to Essig.
Officers knew that Pizarro would be in the Rockne Street apartment because they previously determined he pays rent there, the chief said.
But the subject of the warrant – for sale of a controlled substance – was Anthony Marshall, 40, who was also arrested on scene, he added.
The police shield Det. Dominick Libretti was using when he was shot.DCPI
He has four prior arrests in New York – the latest in 2013 as part of a long-term drug investigation, Essig said. He served 48 months in jail in connection to that bust, the chief said.
He has also been arrested in 2000 and 2001, he said.
More recently, he was busted in New Jersey in 2018 for cocaine distribution, the chief said.
“You know, they aren’t selling minor drugs out there,” Essig said. “They’re selling what we call A-2 felony weight, which is over four ounces of cocaine and crack. So they’re not nickel and dime players out there. They’re major weight.”
A 12-year-old girl was present in the apartment during the shooting, police said. Two women were also taken into custody from the apartment, Essig said.
Emergency Services Unit officers also found two bulldogs — a female adult named “Fluffy” and a puppy — in the home, a police spokesman said. They were removed from the apartment.
The gun allegedly used to shoot the police officer in Staten Island.DCPI
The incident comes two days after both a cop and a suspect were shot in the Bronx, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. And on New Year’s Day, an off-duty NYPD cop suffered a fractured skull after someone shot out the window of his car as he slept in an East Harlem precinct’s parking lot between shifts.
Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo slammed the recent violence and the state’s soft-on-crime laws.
“Because there are so many guns on the street and the policies that are in place with bail reform are not working, the people of the city are unsafe,” he told reporters. “And I’m calling on the governor, the Senate leader and the assembly leader to fix the laws that they broke to keep the people of this city safe.”
“We have two police officers that were shot and one detective in the last 20 days,” he said. “We have an 11-month-old child struck by a stray bullet and multiple shootings throughout the whole city of New York. What else does it take to change the laws that you broke?”
An NYPD police officer and a suspect were shot early Thursday.Seth GottfriedMultiple officers returned fire through the door to get Pizzarro — who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds — to back away, police sources said. He was struck in the right inner leg, authorities said.
Libretti was taken in stable condition to Staten Island University North Hospital, where NYPD Supervising Chief Surgeon Eli Kleinman said he will undergo surgery.
“Our detective sustained a gunshot wound to the lower leg in a small compartment area that is populated by large vessels and nerves,” Kleinman said. “This is a possibly a career-ending injury and certainly a life-threatening injury. There’s no such thing as a simple gunshot wound.”
“The officer will be going to the O R because of some complications that have set in, and we’re all praying for his recovery and we expect that he will make a full recovery.”
Pizarro, who also goes by the nickname Pizz, was taken into custody and brought to Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition.
Anthony Marshall was the subject of the search warrant.He used a 9 mm Beretta handgun – with a magazine that holds up to 17 rounds – which was recovered on scene, according to authorities and police sources.
Pizarro has seven prior arrests in New York State, for aggravated unlicensed operator, criminal possession of a controlled substance, weapons possession and a rap for bringing contraband into prison, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said.
He also has a gun arrest in Massachusetts from 2001 and a larceny bust in Connecticut, according to Essig.
Officers knew that Pizarro would be in the Rockne Street apartment because they previously determined he pays rent there, the chief said.
But the subject of the warrant – for sale of a controlled substance – was Anthony Marshall, 40, who was also arrested on scene, he added.
The police shield Det. Dominick Libretti was using when he was shot.DCPIHe has four prior arrests in New York – the latest in 2013 as part of a long-term drug investigation, Essig said. He served 48 months in jail in connection to that bust, the chief said.
He has also been arrested in 2000 and 2001, he said.
More recently, he was busted in New Jersey in 2018 for cocaine distribution, the chief said.
“You know, they aren’t selling minor drugs out there,” Essig said. “They’re selling what we call A-2 felony weight, which is over four ounces of cocaine and crack. So they’re not nickel and dime players out there. They’re major weight.”
A 12-year-old girl was present in the apartment during the shooting, police said. Two women were also taken into custody from the apartment, Essig said.
Emergency Services Unit officers also found two bulldogs — a female adult named “Fluffy” and a puppy — in the home, a police spokesman said. They were removed from the apartment.
The gun allegedly used to shoot the police officer in Staten Island.DCPIThe incident comes two days after both a cop and a suspect were shot in the Bronx, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. And on New Year’s Day, an off-duty NYPD cop suffered a fractured skull after someone shot out the window of his car as he slept in an East Harlem precinct’s parking lot between shifts.
Detectives Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo slammed the recent violence and the state’s soft-on-crime laws.
“Because there are so many guns on the street and the policies that are in place with bail reform are not working, the people of the city are unsafe,” he told reporters. “And I’m calling on the governor, the Senate leader and the assembly leader to fix the laws that they broke to keep the people of this city safe.”
“We have two police officers that were shot and one detective in the last 20 days,” he said. “We have an 11-month-old child struck by a stray bullet and multiple shootings throughout the whole city of New York. What else does it take to change the laws that you broke?”