One NYC detective shot A man shot while serving a search warrant at a suspected drug house is likely to be sentenced after the convict entered a plea deal to get his sentence reduced — claiming he thought cops were robbers, union officials said Saturday.
Narcotics Detective Dominic Libretti was shot while protecting his team with a ballistic shield during an early morning raid in New Springville, Staten Island, on January 20, 2022.
Nelson Pizarro, 41, fired shots at officers through the door and told detectives he thought he was being robbed.
Nelson, who had been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon, agreed Monday in state Supreme Court to plead guilty to a charge of attempted second-degree murder and accept a sentence of 16 years in prison.
“This punishment is not enough because I almost died,” Liberati said Saturday, according to the union.
A union official said Nelson could have faced at least 40 years in prison for trying to kill five policemen in the corridor.
Liberati told the Detectives Endowment Association that the police team had repeatedly announced themselves.
According to a union official, Liberati said, “When the door was broken down we rushed to the scene shouting, 'Police search warrant!' and kept shouting, 'Police search warrant!'”
Liberti said Nelson noticed him and closed the bedroom door in his face, and then fired several rounds.
“When Nelson saw me, he closed the door and started shooting, hitting me in the chest (and) shoulder,” Liberati told the union official.
“When I fired back, I got shot in my leg.”
