He recalled Karina susp
Tells jury of hot-day hoodie guy
The “rock star” NYPD detective who cracked the Queens jogger case testified Thursday about his first encounter with the accused killer — two months before the brutal rape and murder occurred in his Howard Beach neighborhood.
Six months later, Lt. John Russo steered homicide detectives to Chanel Lewis, 22, who voluntarily provided a DNA sample that led to his arrest in the horrifying Aug. 2, 2016, slaying of Karina Vetrano, 30.
Russo, testifying in Queens Supreme Court, recounted how he pulled up at his home in the Queens neighborhood while off duty on May 30, 2016, and immediately noticed a random man across the street.
“I saw a person walking away from me,” he testified. “A male with a hood up and long sleeves.”
Russo, who followed the man for about 45 minutes, said he became suspicious because of Lewis’ outfit and actions.
“It was warm out,” he recalled. “To see a person dressed with long sleeves and a hood up seemed out of place. After several minutes of watching, I believed he was about to or previously committed a burglary, so I called 911.”
The suspect slipped out of sight before cops arrived, but Russo tracked him down a day later after a local business owner called to report a suspicious man.
The detective, again off duty, responded in his personal car and spotted Lewis on Cross Bay Blvd. He called for the 106th Precinct anti-crime unit, with two police cars arriving to pat Lewis down during a 15-minute encounter that ended with his release.
Eight months later, as police struggled to find the fugitive killer, Russo recalled the strange man from the previous spring and asked detectives to get a DNA sample on Jan. 31, 2017. The sample matched those removed from Vetrano’s body and cell phone at the crime scene, with Lewis charged in the shocking death.
Detective Michael Greenidge followed Russo on the stand, testifying that a “very calm” Lewis — who acknowledged reading about the case in the papers — consented to providing the DNA sample.
The suspect also confessed to the murder, although the defense claims the admission was coerced and therefore inadmissible. There were no questions about what, if anything, jarred the detective’s memory about Lewis. Defense attorney Robert Moeller asked Russo about his second encounter with Lewis, where police checked him for weapons.
“The encounter was cooperative?” asked Moeller. “Yes,” said Russo. “Mr. Lewis didn’t run?” Moeller continued. “No,” replied Russo. “You never saw him leave the street and go into someone’s property?” the lawyer inquired.
“No,” said Russo.