An illegal Venezuelan immigrant accused of shooting and killing two NYPD officers in Queens this month was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mata has been indicted on 20 charges, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder and second-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree assault, two counts of attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, four counts of second-degree assault, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, reckless driving, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, operating a motorcycle without a helmet and operating a motorcycle without a license plate.
The charges stem from an incident on June 3 when NYPD officers attempted to pull Mata over for driving the wrong way down a one-way street and Mata shot two officers at close range, one in the chest and the other in the thigh.
“The attempt on the lives of two police officers who were merely conducting a traffic stop should outrage all New Yorkers. A grand jury handed the defendant up on felony charges, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder,” Katz said. “The defendant is accused of shooting at close range and killing two NYPD officers who attempted to stop him as he was driving the wrong way down a one-way street in East Elmhurst.”
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Bernardo Castro Mata, 19, appeared in Queens Criminal Court on June 5, 2024, on multiple charges, including attempted murder, for the shooting deaths of NYPD officers Christopher Abreu and Richard Yarusso. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Pool/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Katz’s office released new details about the case in a press release Wednesday.
At approximately 1:40 a.m. on June 3, NYPD Officers Christopher Abreu and Richard Jarusso, along with NYPD Sergeant Nicholas Kondos, were on patrol when they observed Mata, who was not wearing a helmet, riding an unregistered motorcycle the wrong way on Ditmars Boulevard near 90th Street in East Elmhurst.
It is also said that Mata was riding his motorcycle onto the sidewalk despite the presence of pedestrians.
Authorities said Yarrusso and Kondos tried to approach Mata, but he abandoned his motorcycle and fled.
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Patrick Hendry, president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, addressed reporters outside the Queens courthouse after Castro Mata’s arraignment. (New York PBA)
Iarrusso reportedly chased Mata, Abreu in an unmarked car, and Kondos, but Mata reportedly abandoned his motorcycle.
Abreu caught up with Mata and attempted to arrest him, but Mata resisted, beginning to swing his arms and body while reaching into a bag he was wearing across his chest. Katz’s office also said Iarrusso tried to assist in the arrest of Mata, but Mata continued to resist.
During the struggle, Mata pulled a gun from his crossbody bag and shot Iarrusso in the lower chest at close range, but the officer’s bulletproof vest blocked the bullet, prosecutors said.
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On June 3, 2024, Officer Richard Iarrusso of the 115th Precinct of the New York Police Department was shot in the chest and survived thanks to his bulletproof vest. Officer Iarrusso was applauded by NYPD leaders and fellow officers as he wheeled his partner, Officer Christopher Abreu, who had been shot in the leg, out of the Elmhurst Hospital emergency room in a wheelchair. (Luis C. Ribeiro, New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Mata also allegedly shot Abreu in the upper right thigh, at which point officers returned fire, shooting Mata in the leg and ankle.
After being shot, Mata dropped the gun and was handcuffed.
The two officers were taken to a nearby hospital where they were treated for their injuries and later released.
Investigators at the scene found a loaded Hi-Point .380 caliber pistol, two deformed fired bullets, nine bullet fragments, three fired .380 caliber shells, and four fired 9mm caliber shells.
If Mata is convicted of the top charge, attempted first-degree murder, he could face up to 40 years in prison.
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Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder ordered Mata to return to court on September 18.
Police said Mata entered the U.S. illegally from near El Paso, Texas, in July of last year and had been staying at an immigrant shelter in a former airport hotel in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens.
The New York Post reported, citing sources, that Mata has tattoos and that investigators have suggested he may be a member of Venezuela’s “bloodthirsty” Tren de Aragua gang.
Fox News Digital’s Daniel Wallace contributed to this report.
