Police brass charges officers who shot Queens teen, but discipline may not come
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Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch will order that misconduct charges be served against the officers involved in the Win Rozario shooting in Queens last year. Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
By Ryan Schwach
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has served misconduct charges against the two officers who shot and killed Queens teen Win Rozario in his home last year, a step that may or may not lead to the officers’ being disciplined in the future, the NYPD said.
Tisch’s decision, which came shortly before the 18-month statute of limitations is set to run out next Friday, could kickstart disciplinary proceedings against the two officers, Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco.
The move comes just a few days after the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated eight charges of misconduct against the officers.
An NYPD spokesperson told the Eagle on Thursday that the officers “have been served with the charges” but declined to give any additional information.
Rozario, a 19-year-old from Ozone Park in Queens, was shot and killed by Alongi and Cianfrocco inside his home in March of last year after calling the police himself while experiencing a mental health crisis.
Just because the charges are being served doesn’t mean the officers will face discipline.
Alongi and Cianfrocco can either agree to accept the charges, or bring the case to trial. In the high-profile case of Officer Jonathan Rivera, who shot and killed Alan Feliz in the Bronx in 2019 and later had charges brought against him, Tisch ultimately went against the ruling of an administrative judge and chose not to fire Rivera in July, sparking outrage.
With the Feliz case still fresh, advocates are wary to celebrate the action taken by the commissioner on Thursday.
"We've worked with too many families of New Yorkers killed by police including the families of Eric Garner, Kawaski Trawick, Alan Feliz, Sean Bell, Anthony Baez and more – all who have endured lie after lie, obstruction after obstruction by police officials – to just take the word of the NYPD's PR shop,” said Loyda Colon, the executive director of the Justice Committee and a representative of of the Rozario family.
Tisch’s decision came just hours after advocates and around 40 elected officials penned a letter to her and Mayor Eric Adams calling for disciplinary proceedings against the officers.
The letter’s signatories includes Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and several other Queens electeds like Borough President Donovan Richards, State Senators Kristen Gonzalez, John Liu and Julia Salazar, State Assemblymembers Jessica González-Rojas, Steven Raga and Claire Valdez, as well as Councilmembers Selvena Brooks-Powers, Tiffany Cabán, Jennifer Gutierrez, Shekar Krishnan, Nantasha Williams and Julie Won.
City Hall declined to comment on the mayor’s reaction to Tisch’s decision.
“Mayor Adams has been clear that this is a heartbreaking tragedy, and no mother should ever have to endure the loss of a child,” said spokesperson Kayla Mamelak "Our deepest condolences go out to the Rozario family. Out of respect for the ongoing process, we will refrain from further comment until it has fully concluded.”
On Thursday morning, simultaneous with Tisch’s decision, Rozario’s family and advocates called on the commissioner to not only serve the charges, but to go a step further and fire the officers.
“We deserve justice for our son's murder,” said Win’s mother, Nota Eva Costa. “No mother should, never, should ever have to deal with this pain and unimaginable loss. I'm here fighting for all of the mothers so that all of our sons get a chance to grow up.”
“The CCRB has said clearly what we all know to be true, that Officers Alongi and Cianfrocco are dangerous to New Yorkers, and they put my family's life at risk when they came charging into our home,” she added.
Win Rozario’s family rallied outside of One Police Plaza calling for disciplinary actions against the officers who shot and killed him in his Queens home last year. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Samy Feliz, Alan Feliz’s brother, has advocated for the Rozario family for the past year and a half, and worries that the disciplinary proceedings against Alongi and Cianfrocco will go the same way as they did against Rivera.
“I am no stranger to the NYPD playbook of endless tactics to continue to delay cases…to obstruct any kind of discipline and accountability to any cops who kill New Yorkers,” he said. “Commissioner Tisch must not betray Win’s family like she did mine, choosing to not discipline cops that murdered my brother, even after the NYPD deputy commissioner of trials found that the cop was guilty and recommended he be fired.”
“You have an opportunity to do much better,” he added.
The CCRB went against the findings of its own investigators when making its determination to substantiate the charges against Alongi and Cianfrocco last week.
Investigators found that all 16 complaints that were levied against the officers were within NYPD guidelines.
The board overruled the investigators on eight of the charges, finding that both officers went against department guidelines when they fired their guns, and abused their authority in their entry to the home.
Additionally, the board found that Alongi was not within NYPD guidelines when he fired his Taser, which he shot twice before Cianfrocco fired his once.
The board did not substantiate five additional charges, including allegations that they abused their authority regarding their detention of Eva Costa and Utsho Rozario. The CCRB didn’t make a ruling on three of the charges.
On March 27, 2024, Alongi and Cianfrocco approached the Rozario’s Ozone Park home after they reportedly got a call from the 19-year-old seeking help amid a mental health episode.
The officers spoke briefly with Utsho, Rozario’s 17-year-old brother, and then went upstairs to the apartment, where Rozario stood with his mother. After seeing police, the teen grabbed a pair of yellow scissors from a drawer and moved toward the officers before being stopped by his mother.
Alongi almost immediately pulled out his Taser, while Cianfrocco pulled out his gun.
Alongi then fired his Taser, striking Rozario. Despite the discharge of the Taser, Eva Costa continued to hold onto her son.
“Let go of him, and back up,” the police shouted. “Let go of him, miss”
Utsho, who was standing to the left of the police, said, “Please don’t shoot my mother,” a phrase he repeated throughout the remainder of the incident.
Though at one point, his mother was able to take the scissors out of Rozario’s hands, the teen eventually grabbed them again and was almost immediately shot at least four times by the officers, the bullets flying over the heads of Eva Costa and Utsho.
The entire interaction lasted around three minutes.
The Rozario family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and the NYPD earlier this summer.
"The past year and a half have been incredibly hard for me and my family,” Eva Costa said. “I still feel the trauma of Alongi and Cianfrocco murdering Win in front of me, and almost killing me and my other son too.”
The state attorney general’s office is also carrying out its own investigation into the shooting. The investigation is ongoing.
