FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
New Jersey Man Sentenced to 20 Years to Life in Prison for
Shooting at New York City Police Officers After Car Chase
One Officer Was Shot in the Chest, Another Was Struck in the Hip
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 37-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for aiming a gun at a bystander and multiple New York City Police Officers ¬before wounding two police officers. The shooting happened after a car chase through Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2016.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant tried to kill multiple police officers and endangered many other innocent people while on a rampage on the streets of Brooklyn. This case again underscores the dangers our police officers face every day to keep us all safe.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Frederick Funes, 37, of Egg Harbor, New Jersey. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 20 years to life in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder last November.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on February 20, 2016, at approximately 3:20 a.m., the defendant fired a shot from inside his vehicle while driving recklessly near the intersection of Quincy Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The defendant then drove past a marked police car that was stationed around the corner and pointed his silver Magnum .357 revolver at Police Officers Jorge Zorrilla and Ayanna Shine who were seated inside the car. The defendant then led police on a chase through the neighborhood.
During the pursuit, the defendant pointed his gun at a uniformed MTA employee and then at Detective Christopher Kelley, Detective William Reddin, Detective Andrew Yurkiw and Lieutenant Barbara Fisher who were inside of an unmarked police vehicle with lights and sirens on. The defendant then drove the wrong way on Lexington Avenue and intentionally crashed his car into a marked police vehicle with Detective Scot Pedrick, Officer Abigale Ramsundar and Officer Thomas Whalen inside, according to the investigation.
Furthermore, after the crash, the defendant fired his weapon at the police officers and they returned fire, striking him multiple times. Police Officer Yurkiw was shot in the chest, but was saved by his bullet proof vest, while Police Officer Reddin was shot in the hip. Police recovered the defendant’s weapon at the scene.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough, Bureau Chief of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Krystyn Tendy, of the District Attorney’s Grey Zone Trial Bureau.
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