An assault suspect who swung a knife at New York City police surrendered after close-range police gunfire narrowly missed him, a video released Monday shows.
The suspect, Marcelino Allende, 30, was “wanted for Assault in the Second Degree with a weapon” as officers of the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Staten Island Warrant Squad sought him at his apartment at Daniel Low Terrace, Staten Island at about 6:00 a.m. Mar. 25, the video shows. The officers noticed Allende leaving his apartment via a window and entering the fire escape, according to the video.
“I’m not going in there, dude,” a voice presumably Allende’s screamed at the police from what appeared to be the fire escape, the video showed.
While an officer reported Allende’s position at the fire escape via radio, Allende could be heard saying in part, “Are you gonna say some gangster s—t like that…?”
“What type of n—r are you, bro?” Allende also added. “You can’t let me slide through?!”
“You got a cat,” an officer said.
“A cat! A f—ing cat! You gonna shoot me for a cat? You gonna shoot me? Shoot me! But don’t shoot the cat!” Allende replied.
“Well then, if you want the cat today safe, you got to come down, man,” the officer said.
“Hey yo listen man,” Allende said. “I’m about to die. You talking about me being safe?”
“Why’re you gonna die?” asked the officer.
“‘Cause you’re gonna kill me—I’m not letting you handcuff me,” Allende answered.
“I ain’t gonna kill you, I can tell you that for sure,” said the officer.
“I’m not letting you handcuff me.”
“As far as you’re going to jail, that’s it.”
“I’m not going!”
“Oh, you’re gonna go today, sir,” replied the officer. “You just gotta deal with it.”
Allende kept on arguing against going to jail, adding, “I did everything for her, man! I did everything!”
When asked to come down, he screamed, “No! You understand, I got no family, I got nothing to lose, leave me alone. F—k you. I don’t wanna die. F—k you…Shut the f—k up! I wanna die…F—k you!… I don’t wanna do this! I’m not calming down.”
He refused all orders to surrender, and reentered his apartment after about five minutes, according to the video.
The officers entered his apartment building and kicked open his door after he shut it in their faces, the video showed.
The officers found and tasered him and he fell to the floor. “Let go of the knife!” the officers repeatedly yelled upon observing that Allende had a knife. “I can’t! No” Allende repeatedly replied.
Just as one of the officers was issuing instructions for them to taser Allende again, Allende raised himself to a sitting position and swung at one of the officers with the knife in his hand, the video showed. (RELATED: ‘I Will Die Today’: Video Shows Police Shoot Man Armed With Knife, Pepper Spray)
The officer—identified as Detective Genaro Barreiro—responded by firing once but missing Allende, according to the video.
“All right, all right,” Allende said as he fell back to the ground and raised his hands. He had dropped the knife. “Not resisting, not resisting,” he said in part and mentioned his cat again as the detectives arrested him.
Police recovered Allende’s knife at the scene. Allende faces multiple charges including “Menacing a Police Officer, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third and Fourth Degree, Menacing in the Second Degree, Obstructing Governmental Administration, and Resisting Arrest,” according to the video.
The NYPD‘s Force Investigation Division and the prosecutor handling the case would continue to analyze the incident, NYPD Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves said in the video.
