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Grand jurors in Hackensack charged 23-year-old Robert Leonardis with the attempted murders of Sgt. James Dalton and Officers Joseph Ayoubi and Brett McCarthy, in addition to the charges of attempted reckless bodily injury against all three, in connection with the July 22, 2013 gunfight.
Ayoubi was “lucky to be alive” after a bullet fired by Leonardis shattered the windshield of his squad car and whizzed by his head, city Police Director Michael Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT soon after the shooting.
Leonardis was out on bail on attempted murder charges at the time for stabbing a Ridgefield man who broke into his home carrying a tire iron in a fight over the intruder’s wife, authorities said.
Dalton, a 13-year department veteran, was first on the scene with another officer after a call came in of a man with a gun in the housing projects on Newman Street and Railroad Avenue.
Seeing the officers, Leonardis ran, Mordaga said.
“Shots were fired as Leonardis continued on foot west on Russell Place and then south on First Street,” Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said at the time.
He was turning the corner of Newman Street, heading up Russell Place, when Ayoubi roared up in his squad car (see map, below).
Leonardis “immediately opened fire on the officer’s vehicle,” Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “One bullet hit the hood and the other went through the front windshield, missing the officer by inches.”
Ayoubi, a nine-year department veteran, “thought he was shot after glass from the windshield hit his face,” he said. “He saw the muzzle flash and then felt numbness in his face.”
Ayoubi hit the brakes and his car was struck from behind by another police vehicle driven by McCarthy.
Leonardis was wounded by gunfire and fell at the corner of First and Sussex streets, Molinelli said. A .45-caliber handgun that police said he used was found nearby, the prosecutor said.
Leonardis, who already had an extensive criminal history, underwent emergency surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and was transferred to the Bergen County Jail four days later.
He remained held there today on $1.5 million bail.
Ayoubi was OK, but McCarthy fell during the chase and scraped skin off one of his forearms. “His leg and other forearm were scraped, as well,” Mordaga said.
All of the officers were released from the hospital after being seen by doctors, he said.
“Having Sgt. Dalton there meant a great deal,” Mordaga told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. “He’s a top-notch supervisor. The fact that all four of them have out there aggressively doing police work together played a big role in how they handled it.
Jorge Alberto Rodriguez PHOTO: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter / MUGSHOTS (Jerry “Angel” Nunez, Sean Stark, Christiana Cyriax): Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
“They did an excellent job. They did everything they were supposed to do,” Mordaga said. “I’m just glad that they’re OK.”
Four other people were later indicted on drug and weapons charges in connection with the illegal gun that police said Leonardis used (SEE: Drug, weapons charges tied to gun in Hackensack police shootout).
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