A self-proclaimed Tren de Aragua gang member who shot two NYPD cops in Queens will spend decades behind bars for the shocking attack.
Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, 20, learned in Queens Supreme Court that he’ll serve a 28-year sentence Tuesday — a little more than a year after police chase in East Elmhurst ended in a close-range shooting.
“It is simply a miracle that Officers Richard Yarusso and Christopher Abreu are alive today,” said Melinda Katz, district attorney for Queens, in a statement.
The hero cops — including NYPD Sgt. Nicholas Condos — had spotted Mata, a Venezuelan migrant, riding am unregistered motorcycle the wrong way on Ditmars Boulevard early June 3, 2024, prosecutors said.
Mata, who also weaved his motorcycle onto a sidewalk with pedestrians, ran off as cops walked up — sparking a wild chase in which Yarusso pursued on foot, Abreu followed in an unmarked police car and Condos rode on the migrant’s ditched motorbike, officials said.
When the cops caught up and scuffled with Mata, the crook pulled .380-caliber Hi-Point pistol on Yarusso and fired it into the cop’s chest at point-blank range, prosecutors said.
He also shot Abreu in his leg, prompting the officer to return fire and hit the migrant in his foot.
The case added to growing concerns in New York City over Tren de Aragua, the migrant crisis and then-President Joe Biden’s border policies.
Mata had crossed illegally into the US during 2023, but the case against him was dismissed two weeks before the shooting because he had no known criminal ties at the time, The Post had exclusively reported.
The pint-sized shooter, in hospital-bed confessions after his arrest, claimed to be a Tren de Aragua gang member whom two fellow goons tapped to commit robberies.
He also said it was common for Tren de Aragua crooks to “shoot at police” because cops in Venezuela “shoot gang members for minor infractions.”
A judge subsequently placed Mata in protective custody during a dramatic arraignment hearing, in which the shooter was wheeled into the courtroom to find more than 60 uniformed NYPD officers waiting for him.
The case wound its way through Queens court until May 20, when Mata pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.
Judge Kenneth Holder, during Mata’s hearing Tuesday, sentenced the migrant to 25 years in prison on the attempted murder charge and three years for assault.
The sentences will be served consecutively.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry praised the sentence.
“This sentence sends the message we desperately need,” the union leader said in a statement. “Anyone who attacks a New York City police officer should expect swift justice and a very long stay in prison.”
Read the full article here
