A retired cop on Long Island who showed up at a crime scene and allegedly started "barking orders" is being sued by the widow of another cop who killed by friendly fire that night. It was a chaotic night; former cop John Cafarella was driving nearby where police had fatally shot a knife-wielding emotionally disturbed man in his parents' Massapequa home. Hearing the report over the police scanner, Cafarella pulled over to pitch in, and he was not alone. The property was soon swarming with cops still trying to assess the situation. Among them was Nassau County police officer Geoffrey Breitkopf, who arrived in plainclothes, without his shield displayed, and wielding an assault rifle. Minutes later he was shot dead.
Breitkopf was killed by MTA Officer Glenn Gentile. Last month the Nassau County District Attorney released a report deciding that Gentile should not face criminal charges for the shooting. Investigators determined that the other officers at the scene did not recognize Breitkopf was a cop, and Jose Ramos, another MTA officer, tried to physically stop Breitkopf from proceeding into the DiGeronimo house. The situation quickly turned tragic when Officer Gentile, Ramos's partner, saw the physical confrontation between Breitkopf and Officer Ramos.
The DA's report does not delve into whether Cafarella or another officer at the scene yelled "Gun!" But police sources told the tabloids that Cafarella did shout the fateful word, and Officer Gentile immediately fired. "The media's been putting the blame game on my father, it's not right," Cafarella's son said in the weeks following the tragedy. "Did my dad shoot the cop? No. The undercover came on the scene, my dad said 'Gun,' the MTA officer shot. He didn't say 'freeze' or nothing."
Nevertheless, Breitkopf's widow is suing John Cafarella, and the lawsuit claims that Cafarella was "impersonating a police officer" at the time of the shooting. Lawyers for Breitkopf's widow also allege that Cafarella “improperly shouted warnings," and that his actions were “negligent” and “reckless” and contributed to “creating a panic,” according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Daily News.
