An NYC detective, Dominick Libretti, is upset over a plea deal for the man who shot him while he was serving a search warrant at a suspected drug house. The shooter, Nelson Pizarro, claimed he thought the police were robbers in order to shorten his sentence. Union officials spoke out on Saturday about the situation.
On January 20th, 2022, Libretti was shot while protecting his team during a predawn raid at a home in New Springville, Staten Island. Pizarro fired through a door at the officers, saying he thought he was being robbed.
Pizarro was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a police officer, and criminal possession of a weapon. However, in State Supreme court on Monday, he agreed to plead guilty to a charge of second-degree attempted murder and accept a 16-year prison sentence.
Libretti expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal, stating that it “isn’t enough, considering I almost died.” Had Pizarro not taken the plea deal, he could have faced at least 40 years in jail for trying to kill the five officers in the hallway.
The police team had announced themselves repeatedly during the raid, according to Libretti. He told the Detectives Endowment Association that “We entered the location screaming ‘Police search warrant!’ after the door was rammed in and continued screaming ‘Police search warrant.
Libretti claims that Pizarro saw him before slamming a bedroom door shut and firing multiple rounds, hitting Libretti in the chest and shoulder area. When Libretti returned fire, he was struck in the leg.
