Off-Duty Cop Involved In Washington Heights Shooting

Early yesterday, an off-duty police officer got into an argument with a group of youths in Washington Heights and ultimately fired at them during the confrontation. According to the Post, it was a "Halloween hoax gone horribly wrong," with the youths "jumping from a large cardboard box in order to spook passers-by"—and one unhappy passer-by was the off-duty cop.

The unidentified narcotics cop got into a fight at West 170th Street and Fort Washington Avenue with the group of five males who are 16-20 years old. The Post reports, "While the cop waited for backup, one teen thug, Joseph Peralta, 18, pinned him against a parked car while a buddy tried to pummel him with a metal trash can, police said. The officer identified himself as a cop, then drew his weapon and fired one shot that hit Peralta in the groin."

Peralta's father told another story, "The cop got scared, and he attacked one of the boys. My son came to defend his friend. He didn't identify himself as a police officer. What would have happened if he had killed my son?" And a resident in the neighborhood told NY1 that the victim was a familiar face, "The kids who hang out on that corner don't usually bother anyone. It kinda surprises me that his would happen on this corner if anything."

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By Jen Chung in News on November 1, 2009 3:35 PM

Comments [rss]

Aurieex3

First of all Mr.Jimenez my brother is not in ANY gang & neither are his friends . They ALL go to school & they ALL haves jobs. Soo please next time you want too take someones side , find out what's true & what's false. Don't you know the internet , LIES. ? This website is not even known first of all. If you want too hear the REAL story , go to Telemundo.com , I'm guessing your hispanic soo you'll understand . They actually CAME and interviewed my brother & family members of the other guys. Soo like I said , next time be respectful for what you say , because you really don't know how hard it is for all of us to go through this. But don't worry , you'll later notice everything . P.S : NEXT TIME watch the news on tv instead of going online & reading FALSE NEWS.

Miguel Jimenez

"You people need to seriously mind your own business," they say.

Well I think this is just everybody's business. I explain why as you "victims" refuse to understand.

It is everybody's business because this is a free country, and we citizen, who pay our taxes and work hard to maintain our families to be in peace and live a good life DON'T want to have to live with DELINQUENTS like the "Child" Joseph Peralta and his Gang members who just go on the street to bother people all the time,"Not just in Hallowing"

Apparently you "innocent family" you are watching what your "So called child" does all the time, I mean you defend his innocence so much that you give the impression that he is a saint or that you have him under surveillance 24/7 so that he behaves as a honorable citizen.

Well not to offend anybody here, but in my opinion, no one should be playing pranks on stranger people in the street "THAT IS LOGICAL AND ETHICAL" apparently Mr. "Joseph Peralta" (because he is not a child anymore and he knows what is right and wrong)is lying to his family, he is not telling them what he does on the street with his other gang members.

He is just lucky that his victim (the real victim here) was a police officer and not a member from another gang, I am sure that if the victim of his prank was a member from another gang, he would not be "watching TV" right now like the role model his family is trying to impose to the public.

You are right most people here don't know what the truth was, but neither we are going to believe your story, because frankly to me it looks just like a big elaboration to wash your hands from what really happened.

To conclude my opinion, I think you family have failed to provide a good education to this "thug" because that is what he is. He is too old to be playing pranks on the street and he should be aware of the dangers of bothering strangers "Not everybody reacts the same way, and other person could have just shoot the thug in the head instead" If he wants to play pranks why doesn't he play them to his friend or his own family instead?

I see another issue here that has to be pointed at, "Liseidy Bueno" needs to learn to differentiate between good grammar and good education, good education has nothing to do with grammar, education covers the way a person is taught to behave in a society, apparently you "the family" have failed to educate your "thug" to behave properly in a society, but you have good grammar, so congratulations for passing English 101 and making of your child a "delinquent who knows how to spell English correctly."

Liseidy

Actually, this story is FALSE and none of you know what you're talking about. I'm also a family member of Joseph and he's not a "thug." As we speak, he's calmly sitting in his room watching t.v. If you guys think you're so smart and better than everyone, you should also know that news reporters are usually biased. They obviously received information from an unreliable source, so next time you feel the need to comment, you should look at the story from all angles. There were no trash cans thrown and nobody attacked the off-duty cop who had just come from a bar. But you didn't know that, correct? And by the way, his parents give him a great education. You don't even know him to talk so much about him. And the correct term is "by passers, not pass byers." Byers is not even a word. Who has a poor education now?

Aurieex3

You people need to seriously mind your own business. You have no right to be talking about these guys like that. You don't know what happened to them & you did not experience it. You people think is a joke getting shot , well I'm a family member of the kid that got shot & of what I saw and heard its not fun. So please have consideration for others and keep your thoughts to yourself. These guys were doing a PRANK , who doesn't do prank on Halloween ? The shooter took it seriously , it was just a joke. You people have no respect what so ever.

Joseph345

"the kids who hang out on that corner don't usually bother anyone"

I guess this was one of the nights that these punks come out to "bother people" only thing is they messed with the wrong person, luckly this person was armed otherway this poor pedestrian would be dead because some delincuents decided to play a prank on innocent pass byers and hit them with trash cans. I don't think that is no

innocent prank, punks like that should be in jail and nit standing in corners looking to bother people who passes by.

It shows the great education this so called kid, has obtained from his parents, what an example!!!

marcasm

"The kids who hang out on that corner don't usually bother anyone."

Except when they are trying to pummel people with metal trash cans. An average unarmed citizen may have been less lucky. Get these little thugs off the street. Good job raising your kid Mr. Peralta

schadenfreudian mensch

No grandson for Mr. Peralta I would guess.

Liseidy

Except he CAN have children. Idiot.

s0me_g0d

"While the cop waited for backup, one teen thug, Joseph Peralta, 18, pinned him against a parked car while a buddy tried to pummel him with a metal trash can"

The hoax story sounds like BS. "HAHAH Just kidding, you thought we would drop this trash can on you after we picked it up? Silly goose"