South Ozone Park resident Marco Mosquera was sentenced by Queens Supreme Court on Friday to 34 years in prison for shooting at police during an armed standoff at his home in September 2021.
Mosquera, 46, was convicted by a jury in December of attempted murder and other charges for provoking an angry confrontation with his then-wife, an off-duty NYPD officer. When police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park and the Emergency Services Unit responded to their colleague’s distress call, they found Mosquera had barricaded himself behind the front door and fired at them with his wife’s service weapons, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.
“The defendant put the lives of his spouse and responding law enforcement officers in jeopardy with his dangerous actions,” Katz said.
According to the charges and trial testimony, on the morning of Sept. 24, 2021, NYPD Officer Stacy Mosquera, who was assigned to the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway, pulled up at her home on 130th Street near 133rd Avenue around 6 a.m. Despite the early hour, the defendant, Marco Mosquera, her then-husband, was awake inside the house, had bloodshot eyes, and was drinking alcohol. He confronted her and engaged in a verbal dispute, accusing her of having an affair. Mosquera became increasingly agitated and broke picture frames and other household items around the residence while Officer Mosquera tried to calm her husband down and clean up. While she was cleaning up, Mosquera went to a bedroom where she kept her service firearm and an off-duty firearm in a safe.
Mosquera emerged from the bedroom and pointed the guns at her and said, “We are about to change the game up.” He told her that they were both going to die that day and that if cops came to the home, “things would not end well.”
Despite his threats, Officer Mosquera was able to make several calls and reached 911 for emergency assistance. Officers out of the 106th Precinct and the Emergency Services Unit responded to the home and discovered the front door was barricaded. Mosquera then fired multiple shots, with one shot shattering the glass door and striking a uniformed police officer in the boot. A responding officer established contact with Officer Mosquera by telephone and told her to exit the house. She jumped out a second-story bedroom window as the defendant approached her with a gun in his hand. She fell onto the concrete below, fracturing her left knee.
An officer immediately ran over to protect her with a large ballistic blanket designed to deflect gunfire. The defendant approached the window, pointed a black firearm in the direction of the victim and a uniformed police officer holding the ballistic blanket, and fired. He then backed away from the window and continued to fire shots multiple times in the direction of the responding officers.
During the exchange, Mosquera sustained a gunshot wound to his forearm. After an extended period of exchanging fire with responding NYPD officers, Mosquera ultimately tossed the firearms out of a window, as instructed by police. He then surrendered and was subsequently taken into police custody, ending the armed standoff.
After his arrest, officers recovered the firearms next to the house and ammunition — including a quantity of 9 mm cartridges and nine 9 mm casings, both inside and outside the home.
Officer Mosquera was transported by EMS to an area hospital where she was treated for multiple fractures which required surgeries to place plates and screws in her left knee. Three NYPD officers were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
“After holding his wife against her will with threats, he repeatedly shot at police officers,” Katz said. “It is due to the victim’s bravery and the professionalism of the NYPD that tragedy was averted.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky sentenced Mosquera to 34 years imprisonment.
“The defendant will now serve a significant prison term,” Katz concluded.
