Associated Press
NEW YORK — New York City on Friday agreed to pay $6.9 million to a man shot six times by an off-duty police officer who had consumed 10 drinks before getting in his car to drive home.
A spokesman for the city law department said Friday’s settlement in the shooting by former officer Brendan Cronin was in the best interests of the city.
Joseph Felice and Robert Borrelli sued the city after Cronin fired a barrage of bullets into their car in suburban Pelham on April 29, 2014. Borrelli was not hit and was able to drive his wounded friend to the hospital.
Friday’s settlement awards $6.9 million to Felice and $1.275 million to Borrelli.
The two men were driving home from a recreational hockey game when Cronin opened fire on them without provocation. Cronin told Pelham police that he had downed 10 drinks at a bar after spending the day training at an NYPD shooting range.
He pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges and is serving a nine-year prison sentence.
An attorney for Felice and Borrelli, Debra S. Cohen, said the plaintiffs hope that the settlement demonstrates “the beginning of a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol abuse” by police officers.