NYPD cop assigned to combat gun violence shot by gang member, Dermot Shea says
A reputed gangbanger with at least 25 prior arrests shot an NYPD lieutenant assigned to thwart surging city gun violence during a “fierce” struggle with cops in the Bronx, authorities said Saturday.
The lieutenant was among at least four cops on patrol just before midnight in Morrisania who spotted Jerome Roman — a 26-year-old who sources said was out on bail after a November gun bust — holding a firearm, police said.
When cops confronted Roman — a member of the Lyman Place Bosses gang, a subset of the Bloods — he bolted about 50 feet before they tracked him down, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at an early morning press briefing outside Jacobi Medical Center.
“Stop reaching for it! Stop reaching for it, dude!” an officer is heard on a harrowing bodycam video of the incident released by the NYPD Saturday.
“A fierce struggle for the gun ensued, leading to a lieutenant being shot in the ankle. The officers did not return fire as they made the arrest & recovered the loaded gun,” the NYPD tweeted.
The lieutenant — a 23-year-vet of the department– required surgery and was treated at Jacobi and released from the hospital hours later, Shea said.
”He’s lucky,” said Lou Turco, president of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association.
But the wounded liutenant’s injuries could have been far worse, authorities said.
The suspect allegedly had 12 live rounds in his 9mm Smith & Wesson, but the weapon jammed, said Shea, who commended the officers “incredible restraint shown on video” in apprehending him. Roman, seen bruised in a mugshot released Saturday, was being treated at an area hospital after scuffling with cops, sources said.
The other three cops were treated for “minor, bumps and bruises,” the police commissioner said.
Roman — has been arrested at least 25 times, including eight felonies and 17 misdemeanors, with a criminal history that includes charges for menacing, gang assault, and other offenses — along with a sealed, “gang-related” murder bust from December 2014, according to records and sources.
Nearly all of Roman’s arrests occurred in the 42nd Precinct, which also contains Claremont, Crotona Park East, and Crotona Park.
His most recent bust was last November 14, for criminal possession of a semi-automatic pistol, law enforcement sources said.
At the time, Roman — who sources said is known to pack heat and is on the NYPD’s criminal possession of a weapon recidivist list — was on the northeast corner of Chisholm and Jennings streets in the Bronx when cops saw him change directions as soon as he noticed their cruiser, a police source said.
Warning: Graphic language
Then too, Roman allegedly ran and made it three blocks before he was taken into custody — and the cops recovered a loaded semi-automatic pistol, the source added.
But he was back on the streets in no time posting $30,000 cash/bond on November 25, according to records and the Bronx District Attorney’s office. It wasn’t immediately known who posted the bail on his behalf.
“An individual like this with that criminal past was out to shoot somebody. No doubt about it. These officers saved somebody’s life last night,” Turco said.
The incident comes amid a surge of gun violence in the Big Apple — there were 867 shootings in the five boroughs as of July 25, a 19 percent jump from the same time last year, record show.
Backers of New York’s Finest fumed Saturday that the suspect was even allowed to walk free after his November gun arrest.
“The City Council and Albany have ushered in the decade of the criminal. How many arrests are too many?” said Joseph Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former NYPD sergeant.
“Will a member of the City Council just tell us what is an acceptable number? This is the definition of insanity. For those in the, ‘it’s not 1990 type crime,’ you’re right, but Rome wasn’t built in the day. It took us seven years of bad decisions by de blasio and the City Council to get us to this point.
Continued Giacalone: “If this guy is willing to shoot a cop, what do you think he’ll do to an ordinary citizen? The citizens of New York better wake up soon because the politicians that have initiated this will certainly not take responsibility-it’s all on you.”
Railed another person in law enforcement: “Ask me why this scumbag was walking the streets?”
Cops charged Roman with attempted murder, five counts of assault, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration. His arraignment was pending in Bronx Criminal Court.
