Police respond to a report that an off-duty city police officer was shot in Jamaica on June 16. Richard York/The Forum Newsgroup
An Ozone Park man has been charged with attempting to murder an off-duty police officer while the cop was responding to the screams of a mother and her child during an alleged assault in a Jamaica home earlier this month, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Jose Bernazard, 38, was charged with breaking into his former girlfriend’s home in Jamaica on Sunday, June 16 and physically assaulting the woman and her 10-year-old son, according to the DA. He is also charged with violating an order of protection based on a previous domestic violence incident which prohibited him from having any contact with his ex-girlfriend, Brown said.
Police Officer Joseph Koch, 29, who had been attending a barbecue at the home of his fiancée’s father, heard the ex-girlfriend and her son screaming around 10 p.m. and, upon responding, Koch allegedly struggled with Bernazard, Brown said. During the struggle, Bernazard allegedly grabbed the officer’s gun and fired a round, striking Koch in the hand, according to the DA. Bernazard also suffered a gunshot wound, and the two men, the ex-girlfriend and her son were taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, Brown said.
Alongside attempted murder, Bernazard has also been charged with assault, menacing a police officer, burglary, criminal contempt, aggravated criminal contempt and endangering the welfare of a child.
“The defendant has been charged with having exhibited a total disregard for the judicial system and the law,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “He is accused of twice assaulting his former girlfriend, ignoring a lawful mandate from the court to stay away from her, failing to appear in court to answer pending criminal charges, and now with shooting a police officer attempting to effect his arrest.”
The DA said Bernazard attempted to enter his ex-girlfriend’s home through the front door that Sunday night, but the woman refused to let him in. Bernazard then allegedly forced his way through the door, and, once inside, he allegedly began physically assaulting the woman and her son.
The Ozone Park man was also arrested on an open bench warrant stemming from an earlier assault on the same ex-girlfriend. According to the criminal complaint from that case, the ex-girlfriend was asleep in her home on Jan. 26, 2012 when she heard a noise coming from her front door and awoke to find Bernazard allegedly on top of her, the DA said. He then allegedly choked her and repeatedly punched her, according to the Brown.
At the time of his arrest, Bernazard allegedly told police that he “broke the door to get in and get my stuff.”
