NYPD officers with ties to LI return home after being shot in the line of duty

Police say the officers attempted to stop a moped at 23rd Avenue and 89th Street in East Elmhurst.

Kevin Vesey

Jun 3, 2024, 9:22 AM

Updated 205 days ago

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Two NYPD officers with ties to Long Island have returned home after they were both shot in the line of duty.
Officer Christopher Abreu, 26, and his partner, Officer Richard Yarusso, also 26, both left the hospital around 7:30 a.m. Monday.
NYPD officials say the officers were shot around 1:40 a.m. Monday while chasing a robbery suspect in East Elmhurst, Queens.
One officer was struck in the leg. The other was shot in the chest and was saved by his bulletproof vest.
Public records indicate Yarusso is from Suffolk County. Abreu’s neighbors confirm he lives in New Hyde Park.
The suspect was shot by police and was taken into custody. He was identified as 19-year-old Bernardo Raul Castro Mata. Police say the shooter was in this country illegally from Venezuela and was staying at a migrant shelter. He is suspected in a pattern of moped robberies in Queens.
Castro Mata underwent surgery and is stable at the hospital. Officers Yarusso and Abreu are both expected to make full recoveries.