Fishkill shooting: Police officers avoid criminal charges, new details revealed
A grand jury decided three town of Fishkill police officers were justified when they shot a man during a domestic dispute in February.
On June 22, a Dutchess County Court grand jury found insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against any of the officers involved in the Feb. 27 shooting of Michael Becerril, who is accused of possessing a knife and grabbing an officer's gun during the episode, in which a 30-year-old woman was also shot while trying to intervene. It remains unclear who shot the woman, who survived, as the violence unfolded.
Sgt. Gerald Cocozza and officers Joseph DiPalma and John Hurtado responded to the incident at the Views at Rocky Glen, where Becerril was shot by police and survived.
"The grand jury found that the actions of Officers DiPalma, Hurtado and Sgt. Cocozza were justified in their use of deadly physical force in this incident," the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
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The grand jury indicted Becerril, 30, on felony charges of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer and menacing a police officer.
"The grand jury heard four full days of testimony in this matter and reviewed a multitude of evidence in arriving at their decision," Chief Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weishaupt said in the statement.
The three officers were placed on administrative leave after the shooting. Town of Fishkill police could not immediately be reached Tuesday about the grand jury's decision and the status of the officers.
"From the very beginning I have said that I anticipated our Town of Fishkill Police officers would be cleared of any wrongdoing, and the grand jury investigation has confirmed that," Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra said.
Jonathan Goldman, an attorney whose office is representing Becerril, said: "We believe that the charges against our client are unfounded and that, when all the evidence comes to light, he will be exonerated. We disagree with much of the factual narrative put out by the District Attorney’s Office and believe that the evidence will ultimately demonstrate that Mr. Becerill was unarmed and not posing a serious threat to anyone when officers repeatedly shot him. We look forward to the truth telling process as this matter proceeds and what it will reveal."
New details
The incident began around 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the apartment complex off Route 52. Cocozza, DiPalma and Hurtado responded to a separate, unrelated domestic incident at the Views when they "heard screaming coming from the top of Rocky Glen Road," according to the indictment.
DiPalma and Hurtado then saw Becerril stabbing himself in the head with a knife, while the 30-year-old woman was hanging on his arm, trying to stop him, according to the indictment, and the two officers ran to them.
Hurtado grabbed the woman and pulled her away from Becerril, whom he told repeatedly to drop the knife. Hurtado used a stun gun on Becerril but it had no effect, according to the indictment, and Becerril started to run toward Hurtado, who was backing away from him.
DiPalma approached and told Becerril to get on the ground, but he allegedly charged DiPalma, who fired his gun, "striking Becerril but not slowing him down," according to the indictment.
Becerril allegedly knocked DiPalma to the ground and struggled to take his gun. Several shots were then fired from DiPalma's gun during the struggle, according to the indictment.
Hurtado "fired one shot, but Becerril was able to take DiPalma's pistol and got up with the pistol in hand," according to the indictment.
The woman ended up on the ground, shot, during the violence. Cocozza pulled up in his police car, and Becerril allegedly headed toward the sergeant and the woman while holding DiPalma's gun.
Becerril allegedly ignored Cocozza's orders to drop the gun and raised the gun toward the sergeant, who then fired three rounds at Becerril.
Becerril fell to the ground and the gun dropped from his hand, according to the indictment. He allegedly got back up, unarmed, and approached Cocozza while saying, "you are going to have to kill me." Becerril then collapsed.
Village of Fishkill police arrived as backup and handcuffed Becerril, who was then airlifted to Westchester Medical Center.
Matt Spillane covers breaking news throughout the Hudson Valley. Click here for his latest stories. Follow him on Twitter @MattSpillane. Check out our latest subscription offers here.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Fishkill shooting: police officers avoid charges, suspect indicted
