12/9/2012
By Ivan Pereira
The NYPD says the man in a frantic Queens drug bust Saturday– who had more more than three dozen arrests on his record — took aim at cops with an imitation air pistol.
The unidentified 42-year-old Latino drew what looked like a Glock handgun at two plain clothes officers while they performed a buy-and-bust operation at Gates and Seneca Ave. in Ridegewood around 10:45 p.m., but the weapon was fake, the NYPD said in a statement.
The nine-year-veterans, who showed their badges, fired six rounds into the suspect who later died at Wyckoff Hospital. The NYPD said the suspect wasn’t their prime target in the drug takedown but he arrived at the scene in a black livery cab when the arrests took place.
The deceased suspect had 39 arrests in Miami and New York on various charges including, drugs, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
This was the first time that either officer fired a weapon, the NYPD said.
They charged two men during the bust. One, an unidentified 33-year-old Latino, said he didn’t recognize the slain suspect.
The other suspect, an alleged drug dealer named Nolan Rivera, had to be hospitalized after he ingested what may have been crack, the NYPD said.
