84 Pct. Cop Killed in Struggle with Suspect

By on March 13, 2011 1:00 pm in crime, Downtown Brooklyn, News

Police Officer Alain Schaberger. NYPD Photo.

Police Officer Alain Schaberger, 42, assigned to the 84th Precinct, lost his life early this morning after being pushed over the railing of a stairwell by a suspect at 45 St. Marks Pl.  Police say that Schaberger responded to a 911 call at 334 Bergen St. at 4:22 this morning in which a woman reported her boyfriend, George Villanueva, had threatened to kill her before he fled to his residence on St. Marks Pl.  Officers responded to Villanueva’s residence, where they led him down the front stoop to have the victim identify him.  Villanueva began struggling with the officers, and Schaberger was pushed over the railing.

“Officer Schaberger fell approximately nine feet, striking his head on cement and landing feet up.  He had a gash on the left side of his head, his neck was broken,” said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.  He was taken to Lutheran Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

The Daily News reports Schaberger was a well-respected member of the department, and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

Commissioner Kelly said that Villanueva was the subject of 12 prior domestic complaints, and has 28 prior arrests for robbery and burglary.  His last stint in state prison ended in 2005.

UPDATE:  George Villanueva has been charged with Murder 1: Police Officer, Aggravated Murder of a Police Officer, Criminal Contempt of Court 1, and Assault 3.

Share this Story:

,

  • WillowtownCop

    R.I.P.

    The scumbag perp had no business being on the streets. How many times do we have to arrest a violent thug for robbery and domestic violence before someone gets the bright idea to keep him in jail? There are others with blood on their hands here!

  • Forsure

    Absolutely. There’s something to this three-strikes idea.
    Scumbag should get the chair.

  • stuart little

    what willowtoncop said

  • skunky

    um no there’s only one person with blood on their hands, the perp. it’s not the system’s fault.

    it’s like when a child is beaten to death by their parent, people like to lay the guilt at the feet of the ACS or the City. ridiculous.

  • stuart little

    skunky, this guy had been arrested twenty times. the system is at fault. violent repeat criminals really need to be locked up. period.

    my post will probably not be allowed on the blog because the blog master moderates his blog heavily, but i want to take the two minutes to write it anyway.

  • Jo

    12 prior domestic complaints and 28 prior arrests for robbery and burglary

    Forty strikes – still on the street.

    Good call there, skunky.

  • Monty

    His priors were for robbery and burglary. Those aren’t violent crimes AFAIK.

  • x

    This will teach us to lock our doors, I hope.

  • Arch Stanton

    skunky is right, the “system” while not perfect, is not to blame. It amazes me how many people here do not have a grasp on the terminology and or workings of our justice system.
    Arrests are not convictions.
    Burglary is non violent.
    Robbery by it self is non violent, but can be such as in armed robbery. Domestic complaints do not necessarily imply violence.
    People are quick to judge but not to think.

  • lori

    A terrible tragedy. But is 334 Bergen Street in the 84th precinct? And was Officer Schaberger alone pursuing and attempting to arrest this perp?

  • bornhere

    Lori – The 84 extends to Bergen/Fourth Avenue, and the story above reveals that the officer was not alone.

  • WillowtownCop

    I wish people would take a few seconds to look things up before they run their mouths.

    Robbery and Burglary are both major felonies.

    Robbery always involves violence or the threat of violence. A simple chain or purse snatch is not a robbery, it’s a grand larceny.

    Burglary has NOTHING to do with stealing. It means trespassing with the intent to commit a crime- which could be assault just as well as it could be larceny.

    Arrests for domestic incidents involve assault at the very least- if it were just an argument, there would have been a report, not an arrest.

    If he was arrested ant NOT convicted, the arrest would be sealed and not reported to the media.

    This person obviously has no regard for anyone’s life or property but his own. I don’t know why people have the idea that we shouldn’t judge people based on how they live their lives. It’s actually the only thing we should judge people on.

  • Alana

    Willowtown Cop thanks for intercepting the ignorance from people saying this man had the right to be on the streets.

  • Brooklyn Tea

    Thank you WillowtownCop. As for the scum responsible for killing the officer, I’d rather put my tax dollars to better use and fry him in the chair as opposed to having him play basketball, poker etc. in prison.

    Clearly he can not be “rehabilitated” and contributes nothing to society. When will common sense prevail?

  • stuart little

    My prayers are with the family of the slain officer. I saw his wife on TV being interviewed. She was so brave and dignified. What a tragedy.

  • http://Building Jeffrey J Smith

    God Bless all that serve the public safety.

    But how many people reading this will take the small time to send some kind of message of respect to the precinct or the family
    of the officer?.

    How many will take the time to become interested and involved
    with the monthy 84th Pct meetings? Which are so critical to
    providing the community support and feedback to the
    precinct?

    How many of us think of some way they could contribute in some
    way to the state of public safety?

    We all stop and, briefly, think when something like this happens
    But what of continuing substance do we personally even try to
    do in whe war between the law and anarchy?

  • Appreciative

    I want to echo sentiments from Jeffrey J Smith… Pls take the same amount of time you did to post on this site – to send a message of condolensces and/or a note of thanks to the precinct. These guys step in front of crazy sh&t for us each and every day, never knowing who’s harmless or who is seconds away from trying to kill them. It’s hard to change the system, the laws and bureaucracies – but it’s easy to take a moment to say ‘thanks.’

  • sydneynycld

    this is terrible. rest in peace.