Five men with lengthy rap sheets have been collared and charged with murder in the slaying of decorated NYPD Officer Peter Figoski, authorities said Tuesday.
The suspects were all hunted down within 24 hours of the death of the 22-year NYPD veteran and father of four daughters, who was fatally shot in the face at close range after responding to a robbery in Brooklyn Monday morning.
Some have significant criminal histories,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Tuesday.
They’re acquaintances. They know each other. They may have known each other from previous activities.”
The Queens-based crew had conspired to rob a man they believed to be a drug dealer, he said.
The accused triggerman, Lamont Pride, 27, was quickly nabbed after Figoski’s partner, Officer Glenn Estrada, gave chase after his colleague was tragically gunned down.
Pride’s alleged accomplice, Kevin Santos, 30, escaped when Estrada chose to focus on the gunman, but was captured early Tuesday at his girlfriend’s house in Ozone Park, Queens.
Santos goes by the street name “Luck” and is a member of the Latin Kings gang, police said.
When cops from the 75th Precinct initially arrived at the Cypress Hills apartment where the tenant was robbed, they encountered two men, Ariel Tejada, 22, and Nelson Moralez, 27, who posed as good Samaritan neighbors.
The pair were taken in for questioning and are now believed to be involved in the robbery plot.
Another suspect, Michael Velez, 21, is accused of having the role of getaway driver and was caught on surveillance tape walking away from the area.
He was found at his cousin’s house in Brooklyn at 8:30 p.m. Monday.
All five have been charged with murder and a slew of other counts, including robbery, assault and drug possession.
Pride is from Greensboro, N.C., and the other four all live within a few blocks of each other in Ozone Park.
Commissioner Kelly gave an updated scenario of the events that led to Figoski’s death.
Detectives now believe Pride and Santos were joined by Tejada and Moralez when they broke into the Pine St. apartment, pistol-whipped the 25-year-old tenant and stole $770 and a cheap watch.
Detectives are also investigating if the tenant is a marijuana dealer, but say they didn’t find pot in the apartment.
They planned to steal any cash and marijuana that he had on hand,” Kelly said.
They met in an apartment in Queens at 1 a.m. yesterday (Monday). They planned the robbery and afterwards drove to the location to carry it out.”
Two calls were made to 911, at least from the building’s owner, who lives on the first and second floors. When officers arrived they found a bloodied man on the floor, Moralez in the bedroom and Tejada in the kitchen.
The pair claimed they were helping the injured man, and the victim “did not contradict them,” Kelly said.
Meanwhile, Santos and Pride hid in the boiler room. They encountered encountered Figoski, 47, at the base of the stairs to the street as they attempted to make a dash to freedom.
The officer, West Babylon, L.I., was shot in the face and died five hours later at Jamaica Hospital.
Figoski spent his entire professional life assisting the residents of one of the poorest places in New York City,” Kelly said.
He did it with dedication that showed in his record of arrests and medals.”
The 9-mm. Ruger used to shoot Figoski was sold by a pawn shop in Colonial Heights, Va., and never reported stolen.
One shooting is one too many, and in the case of Officer Figoski, it robs his daughters of a caring father and this department and East New York of a great police officer,” Kelly said.
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