Jilted cop busted in violent tantrum
Charged in attack on ex’s house
A jilted city cop exploded on the Fourth of July, terrifying his ex-girlfriend’s brother and her landlord in three violent visits to the Queens home where she fled to escape the spurned officer, authorities charged.
NYPD officer Ernie Moran was arrested on a variety of charges after a hair-raising 30-minute incident in which he menaced the landlord, smashed two 45-pound planters and hurled the broken shards at the man’s door as his rage intensified, said officials.
Moran even identified himself as a cop during the late-night rampage, the landlord told the Daily News.
“A lunatic,” said David Romero, who called the police amid Moran’s violent meltdown. “His demeanor, his actions. Kicking, pounding the door, screaming at the top of his lungs.”
Romero recounted how his attempts to de-escalate the situation only further enraged Moran, who announced he was looking for his former girlfriend.
“The next thing he says is, ‘I’m a cop, I got a badge,’ and he’s holding his hand over his back pocket,” said Romero, who called the NYPD three times when Romero kept returning to his Jackson Heights home. “Pretty dangerous situation when you can’t see a person’s hands.”
The ex-girlfriend and her brother Steven Sanchez, 26, moved into the apartment only six weeks earlier in an effort to steer clear of the obsessed officer.
“He would treat her badly and then cry, ‘My love, don’t leave me,‘” said Sanchez, adding that Moran would threaten his sister by warning, ”I know how to hit you without leaving marks.”
When she broke up with Moran a little more than a year after they began dating, the cop started showing up at their old home with a message for his her: “If you’re not mine, you’re nobody else’s,” Sanchez said.
The jealousy-fueled fireworks started around 11:30 p.m. on July 4, when Moran — after allegedly threatening the ex-girlfriend in text messages — appeared at her new home to hammer on the door and bellow her name for five frightening minutes. The girlfriend was out with friends for the holiday.
Romero, at home with his pregnant wife and their 4year-old daughter, thought someone was trying to break in, and looked out the window to see a deranged stranger in full meltdown. He immediately dialed 911 before stepping outside in an effort to calm Moran.
“I know she’s in here!” the cop howled, according to Romero. “Don’t lie to me, I know she’s in there!”
Romero convinced him to leave, then called 911 to say everything had been resolved. But the landlord was wrong.
“Ten minutes later it sounds like a truck is hitting my house,” Romero said. “More violent than before. It was just crazy … When I look out the window I see this lunatic holding 45-pound planters that were up there, throwing it at the door.”
Romero dialed 911 again before calling Sanchez to come outside with him. When the cops arrived, Moran had disappeared. But as the landlord cleaned up the mess outside his broken front door, Moran returned for a third time.
“I’m sweeping and I hear the maniac, the lunatic, screaming, running up the street,” recalled Romero. “At that moment, I’m terrified for my life, I’m fearful for my family’s life, I’m fearful for Steven’s life, I’m fearful for everyone in the house.”
Romero locked his apartment door and rushed to call police again. Within minutes, five or six cars showed up — but Moran had vanished. The NYPD kept a patrol car outside in case he returned.
Just before 2 a.m., a calmed-down Moran called Sanchez as if nothing had happened to see he if wanted to hang out. Sanchez invited him to come over, but Moran didn’t take the bait.
Sanchez said he and her sister were still afraid that Moran would return: “She’s scared, nervous, doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know if he’s going to want retaliation.”
Moran, arrested Wednesday on charges of stalking, aggravated harassment and criminal mischief, was released on his own recognizance at a Thursday appearance in Queens Criminal Court. The NYPD suspended him without pay.