Daily News, November 29, 2008: A burglar shot and wounded Friday when he tried to break into a retired cop’s Staten Island home, police sources said. Retired NYPD Officer Carmine Longo, 45, pulled a gun when he discovered the thief trying to rob his Rossville home, sources said. The thief was shot as he and the ex-cop struggled for Longo’s .38-caliber revolver, sources said. The wounded thief, identified as Richard Licione, bolted from the house and tried to escape in a Ford Windstar with Longo on his heels, sources said. “Carmine was hanging in the window and the guy was doing a doughnut, trying to get Carmine off the car,” a neighbor said. Longo, who retired after 20 years with the NYPD, was struck by the minivan, and taken to Staten Island University Hospital. Licione was in stable condition at Richmond University Medical Center.
NY1, November 19, 2008: Two men attempting to rob a Brooklyn store were killed Monday night following a shootout. Police sources tell NY1 that four people, two of whom had guns, entered a store on Nostrand Avenue around 8:30 p.m Monday. According to police sources, the shop owner pulled out his own gun, struggled with one of the suspects and opened fire, killing two of the attackers. The others fled the scene. Sources also say there may have been another man outside as a lookout. The store owner was shot multiple times. One of his employees was also hit in the leg. Both were expected Tuesday to make a complete recovery. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
NY1, October 31, 2008: An intruder who broke into an off-duty police officer’s Brooklyn home Friday was shot in the leg. Police say the would-be thief broke into the policeman’s Greenpoint home Friday afternoon while the officer was napping. Shots were fired inside the home, but police are investigating who pulled the trigger. Authorities say the intruder was taken to Woodhull Hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. “I just heard the yelling and a gunshot so I stayed in my apartment,” said neighbor Nadia Pabste. “I knew a policeman lived downstairs, so I just waited in my apartment, looked out the window until I saw all the cops outside.” Police say the officer was not injured, but was taken to Bellevue Hospital for trauma.
Buffalo News, October 10, 2008: A pizza deliveryman fought off three robbers at gunpoint and shot one of them in the back Thursday night, police say. The deliveryman, who works for Tomatoes Pizza on Kensington Avenue, walked up to the house in the 400 block of Dartmouth Avenue and was confronted by the three would-be robbers, police said. At least one of the bandits had a gun. The deliveryman, whose name has not been released, works for the same pizza shop where another deliveryman was fatally wounded during a robbery on New Years Eve 16 years ago. No charges have been filed in the overnight shooting and attempted robbery, as detectives continue to investigate. Buffalo police say that the deliveryman, who was not injured, has a legal permit for the gun and apparently used it lawfully. “He has a permit for the gun, and he apparently used it lawfully to defend himself,” Buffalo police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said at mid-morning. Police also have not identified the 15-year-old male who was shot once in the back during Thursday night’s robbery attempt. Following the shooting, which occurred at about 9:45 p.m., the three attempted robbers fled to nearby Shirley Avenue, where at least one of them apparently lives. The wounded teen was taken from there to Erie County Medical Center, where police said he’s in stable condition. The other two who tried to rob the deliveryman remain at large. In the earlier attack, on New Year’s Eve 1992, deliveryman Michael J. Sutfin was shot to death in a robbery at the pizzeria. The two men responsible for the fatal shooting are currently serving life sentences in prison.
Newsday, August 26, 2008: Two assailants picked on the wrong guy when they confronted a man exiting his car in his driveway in West Hempstead on Monday night, police said. The 35-year-old homeowner was armed — carrying his licensed Glock 9 mm pistol. When one of the assailants fired at the man he fired back. No one was hit by the gunfire on Oakford Street, before the pair fled. Nassau County police said one of the attackers, Jose D. Celis, 30, of Woodfield Road, West Hempstead, was arrested on nearby Elm Street after a search by Bureau of Special Operations officers. Police are still searching for the second attacker in the incident. The attack occurred at 9:25 p.m. Monday as the homeowner exited his car and was confronted by the two men. The victim’s name is being withheld due to the nature of the assault. Police said the man was a “licensed pistol holder,” but could not immediately say if his pistol license — or the attempted robbery and assault — was related to his business. Celis was charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree criminal use of a firearm and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to police. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in First District Court in Hempstead.
Newsday, March 21, 2008: Gunfire was exchanged between a Ridge homeowner and two burglars yesterday after he discovered them in his home at 4 a.m., police said. No one was believed injured at the Kastal Court house, and the burglars escaped, Suffolk police said. The men, one armed with a rifle, climbed through a front window, confronted the homeowner and chased him down a hallway into a bedroom, police said. The homeowner shut the bedroom door, but the barrel of the suspects’ rifle was wedged between the door and the door frame, police said, and the gunman fired the weapon. The homeowner was able to get to his own rifle and fired through the closed door, police said, and the intruders fled. Anyone with information can call 631-852-8752 or 800-220- TIPS.
Newsday, February 28, 2008: The victim of an Elmont home invasion turned the tables on his attackers by pulling out a handgun and chasing the burglars down the street, firing one shot at them as they ran away, the Nassau police said. It’s not clear whether the victim, a 36-year-old man who has a handgun permit, hit either of the two escaping home invaders, the police said. It was around 1:25 a.m. Thursday when two men kicked open the side door of the Elmont resident’s home on Post Avenue and ordered the man not to move. As one of the suspects grabbed the resident’s cash, which the police said was “on a piece of furniture,” the victim pulled out his handgun and the burglars ran away, followed by the armed resident. Detectives ask anyone with information about this crime to call Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Buffalo News, February 9, 2008: A state Division of Parole employee scared off a would-be robber late Thursday by firing two shots from his own gun outside the HSBC branch bank at 3109 Bailey Ave., Buffalo police said. The intended victim told Buffalo police he was accosted just before midnight by a man wearing all black and a mask who displayed a gun and demanded money. The would-be robber fled when his intended victim fired two shots. It was unknown if the bandit was hit by the gunfire.
Buffalo News, January 17, 2008: A 73-year-old West Side store owner foiled a robbery Wednesday evening when he pulled out a 9 mm handgun and shot the would be bandit. It was the second time in three days an elderly city store owner fired a gun during a robbery attempt. The 78-year-old owner of Bocce Club Pizzeria on Clinton Street chased away two would-be robbers Monday night with a warning shot. Police said Wednesday’s incident occurred when Shaun M. Ford, 30, of Linwood Avenue, North Tonawanda, targeted the West Side Market at 255 Carolina St. just before 7 p.m. and demanded money from owner Ali Abdulla. Ford was wearing a protective mask used in paint-ball and was armed with a rifle, according to Central District Lt. David S. Stabler, head of the investigation. Ford followed Abdulla behind the counter, continuing to demand money and pointing the rifle at him, police said. Abdulla then pulled out his licensed handgun and fired as many as two shots at Ford, striking him once in the leg, police said. Ford fled the store, dropping the rifle and his mask and fell to the sidewalk just outside the store’s front door, where he cried for help, police said. He was taken to Erie County Medical Center for treatment and is expected to survive, police said. Criminal charges against him were being processed late Wednesday, according to Michael J. De- George, Buffalo police spokesman. The son of the store owner, Ahmed Abdulla, said his father runs the store from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. “The person came in and pointed the gun at him and my father shot him,” he said. “I’m proud of him.” Police said it is unlikely the father, who was not injured, will face charges in the incident. “It’s not that we encourage vigilantism, but he appeared to have acted in self-defense,” DeGeorge said. “Sometimes it’s just reactionary. People react very differently in different situations.” As for the Bocce Club pizzeria, it was the second time in less than two weeks that the business was robbed. The owner there was confronted about 7 p.m. Jan. 2 by two men, one with a pistol, who demanded money. Both bandits fled with cash. Monday, two men entered the shop and one pointed a handgun at the owner but that time the owner pulled out his own gun and fired a single shot, scaring off the bandits.
Newsday, January 8, 2008: The off-duty New York City police officer who shot two of his pit bulls after the animals attacked him in his Medford home is on sick leave while recovering from his wounds, city police said yesterday. When Efrain Flores, 27, found his three pets entangled in a fight inside his house around 1 p.m. Sunday, he managed to pull the one female out of the fracas and confine her safely, police said. But the two males attacked, police said, leaving him with “numerous lacerations” on his arms. That’s when Flores – who police said is a four-year department veteran serving as a patrol officer in Brooklyn’s 73rd Precinct – somehow managed to fend off the animals. He fired seven rounds from his 9mm service pistol, police said, killing the two. Flores was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, treated for his injuries and released the same day, police said. New York City police said a firearms discharge review board will conduct a routine review. Both city and Suffolk County Police said Flores is not suspected of criminal activity and is not likely to face discipline.
