Two detectives added to federal suit in off-duty cop’s drunken shooting
September 29, 2016
Two NYPD detectives have been added to the federal lawsuit filed by two men who were shot at 14 times by a drunken off-duty cop while stopped at a red light in 2014.
Ex-cop Brendan Cronin pleaded guilty last September and is serving a nine-year sentence for the shooting of Joseph Felice and Robert Borrelli, both from New Rochelle.
Felice had been sitting in the passenger seat of Borrelli’s car as they were stopped at a light in Pelham when Cronin retrieved his gun from the back seat of his parked car and opened fire on the men. Felice was hit by six bullets, causing life-threatening injuries.
Both victims survived.
Cronin had been at a police-training session conducted by John Walker and Liam Swords, who are now named in the suit as well.
He admitted going to a bar to meet Swords and Walker to explore opportunities for training.
Cronin said he drank several beers and shots of whiskey with the detectives before he got into his car, with his gun, to drive home.
The victims’ lawyer, Debra Cohen, responded in a statement to the lawsuit update.
“The fact that NYPD personnel responsible for training police officers are encouraging and condoning them to get behind the wheel of their car, in possession of their service weapons, while drunk, is a chilling indication of how profound the problem of unchecked alcohol abuse within the NYPD actually is.”
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