Perp Could Be Locked Up For Life
A 39-year-old Far Rockaway man has been convicted of the attempted murder of a police sergeant-who responded to a call concerning an emotionally disturbed man armed with a knife-and the assault on two other officers who were also injured while responding to the radio run in January 2009.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Neil Perreira, 39, whose last known address was Collier Avenue, who has been held without bail since his arrest in January 2009.
He was convicted last week of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer, assault on a police officer and two counts of second-degree assault following a four-week jury trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Barry L. Schwartz.
Sentencing is set for Mar. 26, at which time Perreira faces up to 39 years to life in prison.
“This case once again underscores the serious and dangerous nature of police work and the sacrifices that our police officers make in serving and protecting our community,” Brown said. “I commend the officers involved for their courage, bravery and professionalism. Despite being attacked, they were able to subdue and arrest the defendant without firing a single shot. The defendant’s actions warrant maximum time.”
According to trial testimony, two police officers from the 101st Precinct responded on Jan. 15, 2009, to a radio run of an emotionally disturbed person armed with a knife at Collier Avenue.
When the officers arrived they saw Perreira cutting up vegetables with a knife in the kitchen. Upon seeing the police he left the kitchen and walked into the bedroom. More police officers arrived on the scene and one of them, Sgt. Timothy Smith, knocked on the bedroom door.
Perreira opened the door with a knife in his hand and stabbed Smith in the chest and eye and then injured two other officers, Daniel Sjoberg and Edward Simon, as they attempted to subdue him.
Smith was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition with stab wounds to his left eye and chest and bleeding on the brain. He suffered the loss of his left eye and neurological damage that resulted in him needing the assistance of a walker to get around.
The two other officers injured in the incident were treated at Jamaica Hospital for lacerations to their hands and released.
The investigation was conducted by Det. Kevin Cashen of the 101st Precinct Detective Squad.
Assistant District Attorneys Shlomit Metz of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau and Christopher Fell of the District Attorney’s Criminal Court Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys James W. Evangelou, bureau chief, and Robert J. Hanophy, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials James C. Quinn.
