Win Rozario’s family slams NYPD for allowing officer to retire before facing discipline for teen’s killing
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The Rozario family rallied on Thursday after they discovered one of the officers involved in the Win Rozario’s shooting was improperly allowed to retire. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
More than two-and-a-half years after 19-year-old Win Rozario was shot and killed by police inside his family home in Queens, his family is still seeking justice for their lost son and brother.
Those emotions were complicated in recent weeks, when the family discovered that one of the officers involved in the shooting, who was facing disciplinary charges, was allowed to retire and avoid punishment.
The Rozario family rallied alongside advocates at City Hall on Thursday after learning that Salvatore Alongi, one of the officers involved in the shooting, had retired, avoiding disciplinary charges from the Civilian Complaint Review Board in an apparent violation of the watchdog group’s agreement with the NYPD.
During the rally, the family, advocates and elected officials decried the NYPD, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Mayor Zohran Mamdani as they continued to call for consequences for the two officers, Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco.
“It's been almost three years since the NYPD officers Salvatore Alongi and Matthew Cianfrocco murdered my son,” Rozario’s mother, Notan Eva Costa, said. “Almost three years that my family and I have been lied to, misled, or had our fight for Win, but have been undermined by the government, including State Attorney General [Letitia] James, the NYPD, former Mayor [Eric] Adams, and now Mayor Mamdani.”
In August, the family found out that Alongi had left the NYPD in May after 18 years in the department, thus avoiding potential punishment from the CCRB for his role in Rozario’s shooting. The NYPD is legally obligated to notify the CCRB about the retirement of an officer facing disciplinary action, according to the CCRB’s memorandum of understanding with the department.
The NYPD did not notify the CCRB, which last year substantiated misconduct allegations – including charges of excessive force and abuse of authority – against the officers.
According to the board, Alongi will no longer participate in the still-unscheduled administrative trial as a result of his retirement.
According to the NYPD, Alongi qualified for accidental disability retirement, which he applied for before being hit with the CCRB’s charges. Accidental disability retirement, often known as “three-quarters,” allows an officer to retire early due to a mental or physical injury sustained in the line of duty and includes a yearly pension worth 75 percent of their final salary.
The department blamed a civilian employee for failing to alert the CCRB to Alongi’s retirement so that the board could quickly try the case. The employee was demoted and reassigned, according to the NYPD.
Upon discovering the mistake, the NYPD notified the CCRB about Alongi’s retirement in August.
Alongi was moved to the Buildings Maintenance Unit after the Rozario shooting, according to public police records.
In a statement, the commissioner herself acknowledged the department failed to tell the board about Alongi’s retirement, and apologized.
“When we make a mistake, we need to acknowledge it,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement. “We should have notified the CCRB before the Pension Board considered Officer Alongi’s disability pension so that CCRB could take whatever steps it deemed appropriate. As a result of human error, we failed to do so, and I apologize for that mistake.”
Since the mistake, the NYPD has changed its review of disability retirement applications related to CCRB matters.
For the Rozario family, the news that Alongi will avoid disciplinary proceedings and retire with a significant department pension brought back some of the pain they have been feeling for nearly three years.
“Our family has been tormented by waiting,” Rozario’s brother, Utsho, said.
It has been over a year since both the CCRB substantiated complaints against the officers and the NYPD served them with internal misconduct charges. Despite the charges, no trial date has been set, keeping the family in a state of limbo.
The news of Alongi’s quiet retirement was just the latest blow to the family, they said.
“We learned Officer Alongi was able to retire in the middle of his case, and that our family’s tax dollars are paying for a pension for a man who killed my brother,” Utsho said. “Do you understand what that feels like?”
“How is it possible that an officer charged with killing a teenager could file for retirement and actually leave the NYPD with his pension without even being flagged?” Ava Costa added. “How is that even legal? Is Jessica Tisch not a mother too? Does she not understand what it means to lose a child? How could she allow this to happen to another mother's child?”
“This is a betrayal and nightmare for all of us,” she added.
On March 27, 2024, Alongi and Cianfrocco went to the Rozarios’ Ozone Park home after they reportedly received a call from the 19-year-old seeking help amid a mental health episode.
The officers spoke briefly with Utsho, 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.
Former NYPD Officer Salvatore Alongi retired earlier this year, avoiding trial for his role in the shooting of 19-year-old Win Rozario in March 2024. Photo via 50a
“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 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.
‘Betrayed’ by Mamdani
On Thursday, the family and elected officials directed their ire not just at the NYPD, but at Mamdani, who ran on a promise to reform the police department but has faced criticism over his progress on his criminal justice-related campaign promises.
“Mayor Mamdani, you sat in our house, looked our family in the eye, and you said that you'll make sure our my brother's death would not go in vain, and you would put more care into mental health, and it would make it a priority, and we believed you,” Utsho Rozario said. “It's been nine months, and nothing changed. If anything, it feels like it's been worse.”
Several of Mamdani’s elected allies said they were disappointed in the lapse that allowed Alongi to retire without facing department discipline.
“We want to see [Cianfrocco] fired, we want to see him at trial,” Democratic Socialist Brooklyn Councilmember Alexa Aviles said. “We want to see this mayor hold this agency accountable, and not in just one way, but in many ways.”
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who has long been a close ally of Mamdani, said he had hoped for better handling of police matters by the new mayor.
“We are 10 months into a new administration that purported to be different from the administration that came before,” Williams said. “I would expect these shenanigans from the prior administration. This is not what I expected.”
“I want to hear answers of why this person was allowed to retire and no one knew, and when the hell the trial will begin for the officer who's still here,” he added.
City Hall did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
