The five men who took the life of decorated NYPD Officer Peter Figoski in a botched robbery have spent much of their lives pulling the kinds of crimes Figoski dedicated his life to stamping out. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
Funk Flex
Find Flex On Google+
The five petty crooks in their have lengthy rap sheets stretching back a dozen years.
“Even though they’re relatively young people, they still have significant experience in crime,†said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Their criminal resumes are littered with larcenies, muggings, drug possession and trespassing raps.
One was on parole after serving three years for robbery. Another was wanted for shooting a man in the foot. A third had been grabbed for attempted murder, but his victim wouldn’t testify.
On Monday, the quintet graduated to the big leagues: each was hit with murder charges for the death of Figoski.
The alleged shooter was Lamont Pride, 27, who was wanted in North Carolina for another shooting.
But the other four were also facing murder charges in the officer’s death.
Kevin Santos, 30, whose street name was “Luck,†had none.
He escaped from the scene, but copstraced him to his girlfriend’s house in Ozone Park, Queens, using a car accident report.
Santos lived with his father, Alfredo Morales, an MTA worker, but sometimes went to a shelter during fights with his father.
“He said he felt no love,†his landlady, Norma Rivera, said.
Morales had called police in the past to accuse his son of stealing from him, she said.
He spent three years in prison for stealing a man’s phone and earrings at knifepoint in August 2007 at the Prospect Park-15th St subway station.
“My intention was to scare him, sir, but it escalated to something else,†Santos said at 2009 parole hearing, according to a source.
His first bid for parole was denied and he was not freed until last year.
At 21, accused getaway car driver Michael Velez had already racked up at least four arrests — three for marijuana possession and one for attempted murder.
According to a law enforcement source, Velez allegedly slashed a man so viciously in a gang fight in Richmond Hill two years ago that the victim needed 300 stitches to his face.
But Velez was freed from Rikers after the victim, who didn’t want to be “a snitch,†refused to testify.
Velez pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to time served — just three months.
Nelson Moralez, 27, and Ariel Tejada, 22, who posed as a “good Samaritan†neighbors, were taken in for questioning and arrested after their stories fell apart, cops said.
Tejada had been arrested in 2007 for burglary but managed to stay clear of the law since then.
Moralez wasn’t so upstanding.
One neighbor recalled Moralez getting shot right in front of his house a few years ago, and another said the FBI came looking for him six months ago about a bank robbery. He had five prior arrests, for robbery, drug possession and drunken driving.
“The kid was no good. Neighbors were calling me [to complain\],†said landlord Komor Uddin, who evicted him.
