A Manhattan man has been convicted on multiple charges, including attempted murder, after a 2011 incident where he fired at two New York City police officers. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Antonio Olmeda, 66, was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, along with attempted aggravated assault of a police officer and attempted assault in the first degree. The jury returned their verdict after just 10 minutes of deliberation on June 27, as reported by the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
During the 2011 encounter, Officers Stephen Danisi and Matthew Ferrara approached Olmeda in Jackson Heights after noticing his peculiar disguise, which included a trench coat, fedora, and a fake mustache and, beard. According to the Queens DA's Office report, when the officers requested Olmeda to remove his hands from his pockets, he refused. Subsequently, one of the officers detected that Olmeda was wearing a bulletproof vest. Olmeda then fired a .38-caliber revolver at close range, but fortunately, no one was harmed despite a bullet piercing the window of a pediatric dentist's office nearby.
DNA evidence from the discarded disguise and the revolver recovered from Olmeda's car led to his conviction. Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder is set to sentence Olmeda on July 15, facing a maximum of 80 years to life in prison. The case had a delayed prosecution due to an issue with a federal sentence, necessitating the trial that concluded recently.
"The defendant shot at two New York City police officers at close range after they asked him to remove his hands from his pockets," said District Attorney Katz. "Thankfully, neither officer was injured but lives were placed in danger as a bullet went through a window at a nearby pediatric dentist’s office," Katz further explained in a statement acquired by the Queens District Attorney's Office. The prosecution was led by Assistant District Attorneys Kanella Georgopoulos and Jennie Evangelista of the DA's Homicide Bureau.
Olmeda’s previous history includes a weapon possession conviction, and this incident in 2011 resulted in another serious encounter with the law. With his sentencing nearing, the case brings closure to an act that could have resulted in much graver consequences for the officers and bystanders involved nearly a decade and a half ago.
