Neighbor shoots police officer- Talia becomes local celebrity!

For those of you who don't already know what crazy events shook down in my neighborhood this weekend, I will attempt to break it down for you now.

DISCLAIMER: All of below mentioned criminal activity is alleged at this point, because as you know, in our fabulous legal system here in NY State, a suspect is innocent until proven guilty.

It all began very early Saturday morning, while I was fast asleep in my bed. I heard banging on my bedroom window, and ignored it initially because I assumed that it was a drunk neighbor, or someone who had the wrong apartment. Afterall, no one I knew would be banging on my window at 6am before the sun rose on a Saturday morning. Simultaneously, the door bell was ringing, however, and if you've ever been in my apartment when the doorbell rings, you know it is the most obnoxious sound ever. This caused Sarah to get up and go to the door, and upon doing so, she discovered that there were several police officers flashing their badges at her, prompting her to open up and let them in. Meanwhile, I heard quite a commotion outside, and drew my shades back to see what all the fuss was about. I was immediately shot in the face with a high beam helicopter search light and I saw the SWAT team encompassing my view.

I proceed into the living room where I was informed that a man had shot a police officer, and was believed to be in my back yard. Holy Crap! From this point on, chaos ensued, Sarah and I jumped up and down high-fiving with excitement, then watched the whole scene evolve from our couch in the living room. You can read the news yourself for a more factual account of this weekend's events, but since I was there in the mix, you're gonna get my version from me!

We watched uniformed officers search our backyard, and survey the apartment house next door, which was believed to hold the suspect. A very nice detective told us that after shooting a police officer at the corner of our block, the suspect entered the house next door, and they were now trying to catch him. Actually all the detectives and officers we came in contact with this weekend were extremely nice, and professional, and made us feel safe, although we were too excited to be scared anyway.

Eventually the police gained access to the house next door, arrested the suspect, and obtained a warrant to search the premises whereupon, they found a large amount of marijuana and a loaded hand gun in the backyard between our fences!

Our whole block was barricaded off all day, and was filled with reporters, detectives, the NYPD Crime Scene Unit who was going through our garbage and collecting evidence all over the place. We were interviewed, initially, by the NYPD regarding our knowledge of our neighbors, which was very minimal. Later, I was interviewed at the corner store, while buying toilet paper, by a tv news reporter. That segment aired on the Channel 11 Ten Oclock news on Saturday night. Then on Sunday morning, I was again awakened by several news teams who wanted to interview me and film our backyard where the weapon was found. Caught off guard, and right out of bed, I gave 3 more televised interviews, this time in my pajamas without even having brushed my teeth!

The police officer that was shot, Andrew Suarez, took a bullet to the neck but is stable and expected to make a full recovery. The suspect's is charged with attempted murder and drug possession. His wife, an 8-month pregnant police officer, is charged with tampering with evidence after trying to get rid of the vehicle her husband was in when the shooting occurred. I, am now the civilian authority on crime in Park Slope!

Best quote ever: "I can't condone breaking the law under any circumstances."

~TTP, ESQ.

LINKS to my televised interviews:

CW 11 News at 10 (two clips)1. Click on the News at 10 Recap for Sunday February 11, 2007, then fast forward to about 2 minutes and 55 seconds into the broadcast for the Cop Shooting story.

2. Click on the video clip entitled "Cop Shot- Park Slope" for my toilet paper buying interview. (Saturday February 10, 2007)

ABC 7

This story is titled: NYPD Officer, husband arraigned in undercover car shooting (Saturday February 10, 2007)

I was also interviewed for a Spanish language channel but I didn't bother to look up that one. My brilliance is probably lost in the translation.