By Alex Ginsberg
A Bellerose man was shot at by officers just after midnight last week after allegedly threatening police with a BB gun and appearing to hold a 6-year-old girl hostage, police said.
“He had a BB gun, which looked like a real gun,” said Deputy Inspector Michael Bryan, commanding officer of the 105th Precinct in Queens Village.
Police arrived at the home at 86-19 254th St. and confronted 25-year-old Ralph Gonzalez May 28 after his common-law wife called 911 and said she had been verbally and physically abused, Bryan said.
Gonzalez was charged with reckless endangerment, menacing, harassment, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon, according to a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney's office.
A law enforcement source indicated that Gonzalez was in violation of a restraining order mandating that he stay away from his wife.
When police arrived at the house about 12:30 a.m., Gonzalez allegedly threatened them with the BB gun, Bryan said. One of the officers then fired a single shot from his service revolver, missing Gonzalez, before the suspect retreated into the house, he said.
Gonzalez came back out of the house, holding the 6-year-old daughter of his wife, Bryan said. It was not clear if Gonzalez was the girl's father.
“The officers showed a lot of restraint,” Bryan said. “It was a hairy situation.”
It was only after officers talked to the suspect and convinced him to surrender that it became clear that the weapon was only a BB gun.
Deputy Inspector Bryan dismissed published reports indicating that the single round discharged had been a warning shot. He said officers did not fire warning shots, especially when they believe their lives – or the lives of innocent hostages – to be at stake.
The 105th Precinct includes New Hyde Park, Glen Oaks, Floral Park, Bellerose, Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Rosedale, Laurelton and Springfield Gardens.
Reach reporter Alex Ginsberg by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
