Thomasa Sabeo, Fermin Arzu’s longtime girlfriend, holds a photo of her beloved who was shot dead by a Bronx cop in May.
Off-Duty Cop To Be Indicted In Shooting Death Of Bronx Man
The off-duty cop who shot and killed an unarmed drunken driver in the Bronx last May was indicted on a manslaughter charge Tuesday, sources said.
NYPD Officer Raphael Lora was told to surrender Wednesday morning at Bronx Supreme Court, where the grand jury indictment is to be unsealed, his lawyer, Stuart London, said.
First-degree manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
Lora is accused in the May 18 shooting of Fermin Arzu, 41, a Honduran immigrant who worked as a porter and a musician in several bands.
“I hope he feels remorse,” Arzu’s longtime girlfriend, Thomasa Sabeo, 46, said tearfully at the apartment they once shared. “He took an innocent life.”
Arzu “was a humble, hardworking man,” she said. “We came here from Honduras looking for a better life.
“We have been patient, until now.”
The Arzu family’s attorney, Sanford Rubenstein, echoed Sabeo’s sentiments, adding, “This is the beginning of the journey for justice for this family.”
A man reached at Lora’s home declined to comment.
Arzu had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17, more than twice the legal limit, when he crashed a red minivan into a parked car across from Lora’s home in Longwood, cops said.
Lora rushed to the vehicle, identified himself as a cop and asked for Arzu’s license, London said.
When the minivan began to move, dragging the officer, Lora fired, the lawyer said.
“On the evening in question, my client acted professionally,” London said. “His intention was to render aid, to assist an individual who was intoxicated.”
“My client needed to protect himself from deadly force by discharging his weapon,” he continued. “He was concerned that he was going to be dragged underneath that vehicle.”
The cop fired five rounds at the minivan as it went down the street.
One bullet hit Arzu in the back.
Arzu’s vehicle hit another parked car, caught fire and mounted the sidewalk, finally stopping at the brick wall of a church.
His relatives plan to pack the courtroom Wednesday, bearing photos of their lost loved one.
“We want to be there to get the justice we deserve,” Arzu’s 22-year-old niece Reina Suazo said Tuesday night. “He deserves many years in prison.”
SOURCE: NY Daily News
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