The junkie pal of “Sopranos” actor Lillo Brancato fired first during the wild Bronx shootout that left an off-duty cop dead on the street, a police officer testified yesterday.
Courtney Mapp, who has since retired, testified he was at a Westchester Avenue bagel shop with his partner in Pelham Bay when he heard “two loud bangs. Boom! Boom!”
“Right immediately afterward, I heard like 10 to 12 shots in rapid succession,” he said.
Mapp later testified the second set of shots “sounded like it came from a smaller-caliber weapon.”
Murder suspect Steven Armento was carrying a .357 Magnum, which makes a much louder sound than a 9 mm handgun like the one fired that night by the slain officer, Daniel Enchautegui.
But Mapp admitted under cross-examination that he is not a ballistics expert.
The defense claims Enchautegui couldn’t have fired second because he’d been shot in the heart.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Armento shot first and knew Enchautegui was a cop before he opened fire.
Earlier in the day, a detective testified that Enchautegui – a three-year NYPD veteran who lived next door to the home Armento and Brancato allegedly tried to burglarize in December 2005 – had a badge slung over his shoulder as he laid sprawled out on the street.
“He had a cellphone in his left hand. His gun was towards his right hand,” Detective Paul Maldonado said, his eyes welling with tears. “His shield was hanging over his shoulder like this,” the cop said, taking his tie and draping it over the right shoulder of his gray suit to demonstrate.
“I went over to him and his eyes were open and I was telling him to hang in there.”
Brancato, 32, charged with murder along with Armento, 51, will be tried separately. The actor was not armed when he encountered the cop that night.
On cross-examination, defense lawyer Bill Flack got Maldonado to say he didn’t know whether Enchautegui – who had called 911 to report a burglary in progress – was going to be outside when cops arrived, contradicting earlier testimony.
Flack had said in opening arguments that Enchautegui had his badge under his coat – with no objection from the prosecution.
Assistant DA Terry Gottlieb said in her opening that Enchautegui went out and said “Don’t move! Don’t move!” She did not say he identified himself as a cop.
Enchautegui’s sister, Yolanda Rosa Nazario – who ran from the courtroom in tears during Maldonado’s testimony – later told The Post, “It gives me comfort that I know that . . . there was a member of the service with him when he died.”
She earlier blasted the defense for portraying her brother as a “trigger-happy cop” who caused his own death.
“It sickens me to my stomach every time I hear how these cops are portrayed. They’re here to protect and serve us.”