DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Alleged cop shooter Luis Ortiz was arraigned in a Brooklyn courtroom packed with police officers Thursday.
Ortiz pleaded not guilty to shooting Police Officer Kevin Brennan in the head at point-blank range after Brennan chased him into a building in the Bushwick Houses Tuesday night.
"This is a heinous assassination attempt, an evil act by an evil individual," said prosecutor Lewis Liederman as Ortiz, 21, was jailed without bail.
A weapon police found after arresting Ortiz at his uncle's apartment matches the one used to shoot the 29-year-old officer, Liederman said.
Ortiz's family members, who yelled at police and members of the media when Ortiz was led out of the 90th Precinct Wednesday, were not present at the arraignment.
But his lawyer, Eric G. Poulos, said Ortiz was roughed up by officers at the scene of the shooting and at the 90th Precinct, and claimed the suspect now has a chipped tooth and bruises on his lips and the right side of his eye.
Poulos also said Ortiz was made to undergo three different police lineups while wearing the same clothes he had worn while photographed leaving the precinct.
"It was a set up," Poulos said.
Ortiz is due back in court on Feb. 6. He is being held without bail on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.
Brennan is expected to make a full recovery, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday.
