An Ozone Park man remains in custody nearly a week after he allegedly shot a man during a dispute outside a neighborhood bar — and was then shot by cops when he refused to drop the gun he held, police reported.
Anthony Vega, 38, of 76th Street faces charges of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment for his role in the March 9 incident outside the RRR Bar and Lounge, located at 87-18 Liberty Ave., near 88th Street.
At 3:50 a.m. that morning, according to Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison, Vega got into a dispute with the 32-year-old victim outside the establishment. During the dispute, Vega allegedly shot the other man in the foot.
At about the time police received a 911 call about the shooting, Harrison noted, members of the 106th Precinct Anti-Crime Unit — a sergeant and three police officers, all wearing plain clothes and riding in an unmarked vehicle — passed the club and
witnessed the altercation.
“As the officers exited their unmarked vehicle, they observed the victim and the suspect fighting for control of a firearm,” Harrison said. “The officers ordered the suspect to drop the firearm. The suspect refused the officer’s demands, at which time the officers discharged their firearms.”
Vega sustained gunshot wounds to his torso and arm.
Paramedics rushed both men to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition.
At the crime scene, Harrison noted, officers recovered the 9 mm firearm that the suspect allegedly held, along with a knife.
The chief added that police obtained body camera footage of the incident, which is now being reviewed by the NYPD Force Investigation Division as part of its probe into the shooting.
According to court records, Vega was ordered held on $200,000 bond or $100,000 cash bail at his March 10 arraignment; he’s due back in court on March 25.
