Cop cleared in fatal Harlem apt. shoot
A Harlem cop who shot an emotionally disturbed man who pretended his wallet was a gun didn’t violate any NYPD guidelines, police said Wednesday.
Officer Christopher Tarricone fired three shots at Michael Cordero, 34, striking him in the pelvis and buttocks on March 5, 2019. Cordero survived and was arrested.
Body-cam footage released by the NYPD on Wednesday doesn’t show as much of the incident as closed-circuit TV footage released shortly afterward, where Cordero is seen banging on doors in his W. 114th St. building and harassing tenants.
Two people called 911: a tenant who said Cordero had a gun; and Cordero’s mother, who said she and his father feared for their safety.
The closed-circuit footage shows Cordero walking toward
police, then stopping, stepping back as he pulls the wallet from the right pocket of his sweatpants. He’s then shot, and is seen falling to the ground and slumping against the wall.
The body-cam footage shows Cordero about 15 to 20 feet away before Tarricone fires. Officer
Robert Uribe can be heard trying to get Cordero to comply.
“Stop right there,” Uribe orders Cordero as he comes toward police. “Stop right there. Get your hands out of your pocket.”
Cordero pushed back. “What you mean, ‘Get my hands out?’ ” he said. “I got a gun.”
Cordero’s family later said he is bipolar and schizophrenic and that cops trained to deal with the mentally ill should’ve been sent to the scene.
The NYPD said Wednesday Tarricone was cleared of wrongdoing last June.
The criminal trespass case against Cordero is pending. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has said in court it’ll consider his mental-health history once his lawyer turns over those records.