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Jurors View Interrogation Footage In Brooklyn Officer's Shooting
Updated 01/31/2013 08:04 PM
By: Dean Meminger

The trial for two men charged in the fatal shooting of a city police officer continued Thursday in Brooklyn state supreme court as jurors viewed interrogation footage of the alleged gunman. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

Lamont Pride jumped on the floor, explaining to Brooklyn prosecutors and NYPD detectives that the gun he had accidentally went off, killing Officer Peter Figoski.

The District Attorney's office conducted three taped interviews with Pride after Figoski was shot in December 2011.

The videos were shown to jurors Thursday in Pride's murder trial.

Prosecutors argued that they prove the gunmen changed his story several times. They said he initially told authorities he was buying marijuana when the drug spot was robbed and he fought a thief, taking away the thief's gun.

"I saw it in his hand, so I immediately rushed and grabbed his wrist and grabbed the barrel with my other hand," Pride said in one of the videos.

But that's not the real story, according to prosecutors. They said that Pride, along with four other men, were robbing the drug dealer on Pine Street when officers responded to a 911 call.

Pride is charged with shooting the officer in the face while trying to escape. In the final interview with prosecutor Kenneth Taub, Pride admitted to the robbery plot but never said he intentionally shot the officer, something the DA's office is trying to convince jurors.

"I'm like this, running," Pride said in the video. "As I'm running, I'm clutching my hands. I never took my hand off of the trigger. That was my mistake. I was so nervous, and I panicked."

Pride was put in a plastic-like jump suit while his clothes were tested for DNA. His defense said that was part of harassment by officers.

"I know I'm not going to get out of it," Pride said. "I know I'm going to do some type of time. But I'm not trying to do the max."

The trial is expected to resume on Monday, but on Tuesday, prosecutors are expected to put Ariel Tejada on the stand. He's one of the accused robbers, and he's cut a deal with the DA's office to testify against the others.




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