Nassau cop killing suspect caught

Richard Tedesco

An ex-convict who shot and killed a decorated Nassau County police officer and then shot an killed a motorist and carjacked a car to make his escape was arrested after a day-long manhunt along the Nassau-Queens border on Tuesday night, Nassau County Police said.

Darrell Fuller, 33, was being held last night on suspicion of killing officer Arthur Lopez of Babylon Village, who was an eight-year member of the department, and Brooklyn resident Raymond Facey, 58.

Fuller was arrested in a parked car in St. Alban’s Queens on Tuesday night by New York City Police Officers responding to a 911 call, Nassau County Police said.

The 911 caller reportedly had heard shots fired in the area. Fuller was reportedly found by police in a car with what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital, according to police, and had yet to be charged in the two killings.

Arthur Lopez, 29, of the Emergency Services Unit was allegedly shot and killed by Fuller during a traffic stop. Lopez was apparently not wearing a bulletproof vest when he had a brief conversation with Fuller, who then is alleged to have shot the officer in the chest, according to police.

Fuller immediately fled the scene, stopped a motorist on the Cross Island Parkway and fatally shot him in the head, police said. Fuller then escaped in the victim’s car, police said. 

Lopez is the second Nassau County police officer to die in the line of duty in less than one week. Nassau County Highway Patrolman Joseph Olivieri was killed last Thursday after being struck by an SUV on the Long Island Expressway at an accident scene.

Lopez was reportedly among the officers attending Olivieri’s funeral. 

The Nassau County Police, the New York Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. marshalls were all involved in the search for Lopez’s killer.

Due to the proximity to the Nassau and Queens borders, the offices of the district attorneys in both counties, Kathleen Rice in Nassau and Richard Brown in Queens, were reportedly discussing who will handle any prosecutions in the case. 

The incident occurred near the southbound entrance ramp to the Cross Island Parkway, near a Mobil gas station on Jamaica Avenue and 241st St.

Lopez and his partner Clarence Hudson, also with the Emergency Services Unit, reportedly observed a silver-colored Honda leaving the scene of an accident at Northern Boulevard and the Cross Island Parkway around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning and pursued the car. The Honda, with blown-out tires, was riding on rims when it left the parkway at Jamaica Avenue heading west and stopped at 241st Street. That’s where the confrontation between Lopez and Fuller ensued.

Fuller subsequently forced Facey out of his vehicle at gunpoint, then shot him before taking his car, police said.

Fuller reportedly had been in state prison after being convicted for attempted murder in October 2004 in Queens. He was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and assault at that time.

In December 2005 he reportedly pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the case, receiving a prison sentence of five years. He had been in custody since his arrest in 2004 and was reportedly released on parole in 2010. He allegedly violated his parole in Nassau County after being charged with a felony drug sale and possession in March 2010 and was imprisoned again the following August. He was released in March 2011.   

“One can only wonder how an animal like this was walking the streets given his rap sheet,” Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said after Fuller’s arrest. Mangano called Lopez “a true hero.”

Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.

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