The defendant’s 85-25 Elliot Ave. home (Google Maps)
Nov. 5, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A 34-year-old Middle Village man who allegedly pointed an assault rifle at a NYPD detective last month was indicted on multiple weapons and narcotics charges Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Julin Liriano, according to the indictment, pointed an assault rifle at a detective who was in an unmarked car outside the defendant’s Elliot Avenue house at around 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 7. The detective who was threatened was part of a narcotics team that was surveilling the defendant’s house.
The detective got out of the vehicle after the incident and announced that he was a police officer. He ordered Liriano to drop his weapon, but instead the defendant ran inside his house.
Liriano came outside some time after and was taken into custody, according to the indictment.
Officers with the special narcotics team searched Liriano’s home and car after obtaining a warrant and recovered three pounds of marijuana, a loose round of ammunition, a scale, a bulletproof vest and an extensive home security system with multiple cameras.
They also uncovered a hidden compartment within his car that contained three loaded guns — a semi-automatic pistol, an assault rifle and a submachine gun with a suppressor — along with 85 grams of cocaine, handcuffs and ammunition.
The officers also found a white powdery substance around the toilet on the ground floor of the home on Elliot Avenue, near 85th Street, according to the indictment.
Liriano’s attorney disputed the allegations that he pointed a gun at the detective at a prior court hearing.
However, video footage from his own surveillance system shows him holding the assault rifle, loading the weapon and pointing it at the detective’s car, according to the indictment.
The footage caught every act as police officers described, Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said.
“In court, the defense attorney accused police of fabrication,” she said. “Unfortunately for Liriano, his own home security system recorded every dangerous action they described.”
The surveillance footage also shows Liriano carrying multiple backpacks from the house to the garage, where he stuffed them into his car’s hidden compartment.
Liriano was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree, menacing in the second degree and criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree.
The defendant also faces criminal charges in a separate incident for stealing a pet bulldog from a man and his 5-year-old daughter. He allegedly approached them while they were walking the dog on a Queens street and threatened to shoot them if they didn’t hand their pooch. He then took off with the bulldog, according to the charges.
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