Charge off-duty cop with attempted murder
An NYPD officer has been charged with shooting a man who made the mistake of trying to calm him down during an argument at a Brooklyn club, prosecutors said Monday.
Larry Valdemar, 37, was charged with attempted murder and assault for the April 18 incident that left a man outside Chloe’s Restaurant & Lounge at Avenue L and East 94th St. in Canarsie with a bullet wound through his triceps.
The trouble began inside the club, where Valdemar quarreled with another patron, prosecutors said. His 32-year-old victim tried to intervene and calm down the peeved policeman — but that only further incensed the officer, according to prosecutors.
Valdemar headed outside the club, where he waited for the man to exit, according to prosecutors.
When the victim emerged with friends,
Valdemar followed him to the corner of the street and punched him in the face, prosecutors said. The man tried in vain to counter with his own punch, but Valdemar pistol-whipped him in the back of the head with a 9-mm handgun, according to prosecutors.
“The gun then discharged once, after which the defendant left the scene,” the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said in a press release.
The victim was treated at Brookdale University Hospital for a bullet wound to his arm.
It was not immediately clear if Valdemar intended to shoot the victim or if the gun went off accidentally.
The 16-year veteran of the NYPD — who was working at the 104th Precinct in Queens at the time of the shooting — was put on modified duty and lost his gun and shield in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
Valdemar was suspended without pay following his arrest, a police spokesman said.
“The fact that this defendant is a police officer makes his alleged actions all the more shocking,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Eugene Guarino ordered Valdemar held on $35,000 bail at his initial court appearance Monday.
He is due back in court July 13.