Two Queens cops survived a brush with death early on Monday morning after an armed suspect opened fire on them during a foot pursuit, police reported.
According to Police Commissioner Edward Caban, the incident unfolded at around 1:40 a.m. on June 3 on 82nd Street near 23rd Avenue in East Elmhurst, when two officers from the 115th Precinct‘s Neighborhood Public Safety Team attempted to pull over 19-year-old Venezuelan native Bernardo Castro Mata who was allegedly driving the wrong way on a scooter.
Mata then apparently fled on foot, leading police on a pursuit that lasted several blocks — and ended when the suspect began firing at the officers, whom police sources identified as Richard Yarusso and Christopher Abreu, both 26.
“The suspect fired multiple rounds at our officers, who then returned fire. One officer [Yarusso] was shot in the front of his bullet-resistant vest, the other officer [Abreu] was shot in his leg,” Caban said during an early morning press conference Monday at Elmhurst Hospital. “The suspect was also shot in the right ankle.”
Yarusso, who has two years on the job, provided immediate aid to Abreu, wrapping a tourniquet around his leg until additional help arrived, sources familiar with the case said.
Both officers were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Mata, meanwhile, was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and is expected to survive.
Mayor Eric Adams joined police brass at Elmhurst Hospital and lifted up the vest, showing where the bullet struck the cop. Adams solemnly condemned the attack on the NYPD, and counted the city’s blessings that both officers survived.
“This is a bullet hole. Because of this vest, a young police officer is going home. Senseless act of violence, a total disregard for life,” Adams said, clinging to the vest. “Today, we thank God.”
According to Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, Mata resides the Courtyard Marriott located at 90-10 Ditmars Blvd. in East Elmhurst, which is currently being operated as a migrant shelter.
Hailing from Venezuela, law enforcement sources said, Mata apparently entered the United States at the border town of Eagle Pass, TX in July 2023.
While Mata himself has no prior arrests, police say they were investigating his alleged involvement in a robbery pattern in the 115th Precinct involving bandits on mopeds/e-bikes snatching valuables from unsuspecting bystanders. These snatch-and-grab robberies, Kenny said, have exploded citywide in recent years, with more than 80 different robbery patterns under investigation so far this year.
“Just to paint you a quick picture of how many of these crimes are being committed: [From] Jan. 1 to June 1, 2020, zero robbery patterns involving motorized scooters or motorcycles. The same time period in 2023, 20 robbery patterns. So far this year, Jan. 1-June 1, 2024, we have over 80 Robbery patterns citywide involving incidents where the perpetrators are riding motorized scooters or motorcycles,” Chief Kenny said.
Police say they will be investigating and cracking down on all those believed to be working in tandem with Mata, who was found to have been operating an unregistered scooter at the time of the shooting.
Meanwhile, both officers were discharged from Elmhurst Hospital just before 8 a.m. on Monday, with Yarusso pushing Abreu in a wheelchair out of the medical facility as they both made their way home.
Incredibly grateful to see these two hero partners both heading home this morning to the cheers of their @NYPD115Pct brothers and sisters, just hours after being shot. Thank you Elmhurst Hospital’s nurses, doctors and staff for putting our brothers on the road to recovery. pic.twitter.com/nfwChByO4T
— NYC PBA (@NYCPBA) June 3, 2024
