Dec 14, 2005 12:28 pm US/Eastern
Thousands Gather For Slain Officer's Funeral
Daniel Enchautegui Was Killed Stopping A Burglery
BRONX (CBS) ―
Thousands of police officers gathered at a Bronx church on a frigid Wednesday morning for the funeral of Officer Daniel Enchautegui -- the second city policeman slain in the past two weeks. Officer Enchautegui was posthumously promoted to Detective this week.
Enchautegui, 28, was shot in the chest early Saturday after he caught two men trying to burglarize a next-door apartment in a botched attempt to score prescription drugs. Though mortally wounded, the off-duty police officer fired eight shots -- all hitting their mark and leaving the suspects hospitalized.
On Dec. 6, an estimated 20,000 police officers, from as far away as Japan and Hawaii, were in Brooklyn for Officer Dillon Stewart's funeral. Stewart, who was shot through the heart when a Nov. 28 traffic stop turned tragic, also chased the suspect despite his fatal injuries.
"We are all brothers," Officer Ricardo Jimenez said outside Enchautegui's funeral. "It's a sad day. It's a sad day for all of us."
Cardinal Edward Egan and the Rev. Carlos Rodriguez, a police chaplain and pastor of St. John's Chrysostom Church, were co-celebrating the funeral Mass.
The suspects in Enchautegui's death are Lillo Brancato Jr., an actor whose credits include the Robert De Niro movie "A Bronx Tale," and "The Sopranos," and accused triggerman Steven Armento.
The Bronx district attorney planned to charge Armento with first- and second-degree murder and Brancato with second-degree murder, spokesman Steven Reed said. Their arraignments were scheduled Thursday in their hospital beds at Jacobi Medical Center.
During questioning, Armento claimed he was unaware Enchautegui was an off-duty patrolman, the police official said. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, as New York Police Department officials often do when an investigation is ongoing.
Brancato, when questioned separately, admitted it was clear at the time the victim was an officer, and that version was supported by a witness who heard someone twice shout, "Police! Don't move!" before the gunfire erupted, the official said.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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