Gunman shot by cop is ex-con just out of can
A gunman shot and wounded in a heart-pounding, videotaped confrontation with Bronx cops is a pint-sized excon with a 42-year-long arrest record who was sprung from jail less than three months ago, police sources said Monday.
Ronnie Cole, 58, who police say uses a slew of aliases, has racked up 14 prior arrests, all but one for felonies. He has served two stints in state prison and had been behind bars since 1990, the sources said, adding that he’s on lifetime parole.
The 5-foot-3-inch, 145pound career criminal was paroled April 15 after serving time for robbery, possession of stolen property and attempted weapons possession. He was also hit with a prison contraband charge during that time.
Cole was shot Sunday night in Highbridge in the clash with cops, He was in stable condition on Monday at Lincoln Hospital. He hasn’t yet been charged,.
According to cops, Cole’s latest run-in with the law began at about 7 p.m., when officers from the 44th Precinct approached him at W. 166th St. and Summit Ave. after he allegedly broke the right rear window of a BMW parked on Summit.
Cole told them he’d locked his keys in the car; police said he had keys for another car.
When the officers tried to arrest him, Cole began to struggle.
Mercedes Escoto, who took video of the fracas, told the Daily News that Cole was resisting arrest before cops wrestled him to the ground. Her video, shared with The News, shows two uniformed officers struggling with Cole while he repeatedly tells them: “I know my rights!”
“It’s my vehicle, it’s my vehicle,” Cole yells as one officer punches him twice while he’s lying on his side on the ground. He ended up on his back as both officers tried to wrangle him into handcuffs.
Although both officers’ body-worn cameras were operating, the lenses were knocked off during the scuffle, leaving only an audio record, which has not been released. The Police Benevolent Association is fighting release of any bodycam footage, claiming it is part of an officer’s protected personnel record.
“From the camera, you can hear the suspect say, ‘I have a gun, expletive die,’” said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan.
Escoto’s video shows one of the officers reaching for his handgun, and shooting the suspect twice. Monahan said the officer fired when the suspect aimed a 9-mm. pistol at his chest.
“If you’re not standing there, you don’t see the suspect is armed with a gun, a 9-mm.,” said Monahan. “He says quite clearly on the tape, ‘I have a gun, die.’”
One Bronx resident, however, questioned whether the police response helped kick the Sunday situation off the rails.
“They put cops in our communities with no formal training in a tense situation or a relationship with the neighborhood and expect them to react properly when s—t happens,” said a 31-year-old truck driver who lives in the neighborhood.
Cole’s arrest record dates back to 1977, police sources said. He has 13 convictions, eight for felonies.
In 1984 he was sentenced to up to eight years in prison for robbery and burglary convictions. He was paroled in 1988.