FACE TO FACE WITH THE GANGSTER WHO TRIED TO KILL DONEGAL COP KEVIN

February 2, 2012

This is the gangster accused of trying to kill Donegal cop Kevin Brennan.

Louis Baby Oritz appeared before a judge in a room packed with uniformed cops — and they were staring daggers at him.

Ortiz, who made a show of defiance for his cop-hating pals the night before outside the 90th Precinct, looked nervously over his shoulder twice during his arraignment.

His family and friends, who had hurled abuse at the NYPD on Wednesday, weren’t there. All Ortiz saw was a wall of blue.

“This was an assassination attempt by the defendant against Officer Brennan, who showed Herculean restraint in not firing his weapon,” prosecutor Lewis Lieberman told the judge.

What Ortiz did, Lieberman declared, was “an evil act by an evil individual.

The prosecutor said investigators have not been able to interview Brennan, who has been given morphine for his pain and remains in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital.

Still dressed in the same clothes he was arrested in on Wednesday, Ortiz did not utter a word during the brief court appearance. His lawyer, Eric Poulos, entered a not guilty plea.

“There was wrestling on the ground and the gun went off,” said Poulos, who claimed cops roughed up his client, bruising his face and chipping a tooth.

The NEW YORK DAILY NEWS also revealed Poulos also accused Lieberman of “grandstanding” and playing to the police in the courtroom.

“This isn’t an effort to do the arraignment. This is a political speech,” he said.

Outside the courtroom, Poulos said Lieberman was using words like “Herculean” to wow reporters and that he was “poisoning” any potential jury for Ortiz.

Ortiz is due back in Brooklyn Criminal Court Monday. He is charged with attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing. He faces anywhere from 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

The 21-year-old gangbanger’s subdued court appearance was a far cry from his grandstanding the night before, when he sneered, “Yeah, take a picture of me,” and showed not a shred of remorse for wounding Brennan.

Ortiz’s deluded display of defiance came after Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly revealed there was a video footage of the dramatic struggle that ended with Brennan lying on a floor in a Bushwick housing project — bleeding from a bullet that just missed piercing his brain.

Brennan’s brush with death came about 9 p.m. on Tuesday after the 29-year-old tackled Ortiz.

In the struggle, Ortiz shot Brennan at close range with a knock-off Colt .38-caliber, police said.

 

 


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