NEW YORK (AP) – An actor-turned-accomplice in the fatal shooting of a Bronx patrolman contradicted the shooter’s claim that they didn’t know the victim was an officer, a police official said Monday.
The conflicting accounts emerged following the arrests of Lillo Brancato Jr., whose credits include a Robert De Niro movie and “The Sopranos,” and accused triggerman Steven Armento, the official said.
Officer Daniel Enchautegui, 28, was shot in the chest early Saturday after he caught Brancato, 29, and Armento, 48, trying to burglarize a next door apartment in a botched attempt to score prescription drugs, authorities said.
During questioning, Armento claimed he was unaware Enchautegui was an off-duty patrolman, the police official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, as New York Police Department officials often do when an investigation is ongoing.
Brancato, when questioned separately, admitted it was clear at the time the victim was an officer, and that version was supported by a witness who heard someone twice shout, “Police! Don’t move!” before the gunfire erupted, the official said.
Though mortally wounded, Enchautegui managed to empty his eight-shot pistol, hitting Armento six times and Brancato twice, police said.
Both men were listed in fair condition on Monday at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
The pair had partied together at a Bronx strip club before hatching the plot to break into the basement apartment to steal Valium, police said. Investigators said they believe Armento may have previously obtained prescription drugs from the same location.
The Bronx district attorney planned to charge Armento with first- and second-degree murder and Brancato with second-degree murder, spokesman Steven Reed said. Their arraignment was not immediately scheduled.
A telephone call to an attorney for Brancato’s family was not immediately returned. Authorities did not have the name of Armento’s lawyer.
A funeral was scheduled for Wednesday for Enchautegui, the second city police officer killed in less than two weeks. Officer Dillon Stewart was shot to death on Nov. 28 during a car chase in Brooklyn.
Brancato played mob wannabe Matt Bevilacqua in a half-dozen episodes of the 1999-2000 season of “The Sopranos.” He also starred in De Niro’s “A Bronx Tale” and had smaller parts in a dozen other films, including “Crimson Tide” and “Enemy of the State.”
Authorities and family members have said Brancato befriended Armento, who has a long criminal record, after dating one of his daughters.
Brancato had recently run afoul of the law and was arrested in June for drug possession.
Court papers also show that on Dec. 8 he was given a desk appearance ticket for harassment and disorderly conduct after a Yonkers woman reported he had shown up at her door and screamed at her. The papers said that when police arrived, they found Brancato sitting in the middle of the street, cursing and shouting, “Don’t you know who I am?”
—
Associated Press writer Jim Fitzgerald contributed to this report.
Comments are no longer available on this story