By Thomas Tracy
As wounded Park Slope Police Officer Andrew Suarez gave a hearty and healthy thumbs-up to throngs of well-wishers outside New York Methodist Hospital Tuesday, more and more is being revealed about the trigger-happy parolee who shot him, as well as the man’s wife — a cop and longtime Park Slope resident who was arrested alongside him for choosing her beau over her badge. Over 100 people, mostly cops, were on hand to applaud the anti-crime officer, who ended up with a bullet lodged in his neck during a gunfight at the corner of 6th Avenue and Prospect Place at 4:30 a.m. on February 10. “I’m just happy to be alive,” Suarez told the cheering crowds as family members and loved ones ushered him into a waiting car. Police said that Suarez and three other members of his elite anti-crime team were sitting in an unmarked police vehicle when a white Acura driven by 31-year-old St. Marks Avenue resident Jose Rivera came up alongside them. According to the complaint filed with the Kings County District Attorney’s office, Suarez rolled down his window and flashed his badge. That didn’t seem to faze Rivera, who allegedly pulled a handgun, said “You ni—ers got beef?” and fired off several shots at the officers’ car. Suarez was the only one hit, officials said. The bullet went in through his left side and traveled up through his back to his neck, officials said. The three-year veteran of the NYPD was listed in stable condition following surgery at New York Methodist Hospital. Police said that once Rivera started shooting, the officers in the car fired back, blowing out the passenger side window of the fleeing SUV. Cops then began a massive search for the truck – a search that had surprising results. Police said that as they canvassed the neighborhood, police spotted the SUV passing the corner of Prospect Avenue and 4th Avenue at 5:50 a.m. They pulled the vehicle over to find 37-year-old Police Officer Jacqueline Melendez-Rivera, who is eight months pregnant, behind the wheel. Melendez-Rivera, the domestic affairs officer for the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, immediately identified herself as a cop, claiming that she was in the process of moving the car because Rivera had parked it by a pump. Once the female officer was in custody, cops raided the St. Mark’s home she inherited from her parents to find Rivera, as well as the loaded 9-mm Ruger he allegedly used in the shooting, which was found secreted in the back yard. Rivera, who vehemently pronounced his innocence Saturday afternoon as he was brought out of the 78th Precinct in handcuffs, was charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Melendez-Rivera, who had allegedly told her sister that she “had to get rid of and hide the vehicle,” was charged with obstructing governmental administration and hindering prosecution. She was also immediately suspended from duty, officials said. Melendez-Rivera, a mother of three, was out on bail as this paper went to press. She reportedly had to put up her $1.9 million home as collateral. According to published reporters, Rivera, who served five years in prison for shooting a man in the leg back in 1997, was remanded to custody at his arraignment Saturday night. According to the Daily News, Rivera told the parole board reviewing his case that drugs caused the downward spiral that led to the shooting. A large quantity of marijuana was found inside Rivera’s home when it was raided Saturday morning, officials alleged. Friends told reporters that the couple had been married for about three years. But their relationship was a secret as far as the department heads at 1 Police Plaza were concerned. According to published reports, Melendez-Rivera told her husband’s parole officer that she was a security guard – not a cop – so she would not get into trouble. As she tried to shy away from the media hounding her home, Melendez-Rivera said that she was very sorry that Suarez was shot. “I keep him in my prayers all the time that he recovers,” she told NY1. “Nothing was done intentionally.”
