EAST WILLIAMSBURG — A Bushwick man was arrested in the fatal shooting that killed a metal worker and wounded a teen girl walking to school earlier this month, police said.
Bryan Aponte, 20, was charged with murder for the death of 53-year-old Michael Matusiak who was working near Knickerbocker Avenue and Grattan Street when the shooting occurred on Oct. 6, officials said.
Matusiak, along with his co-worker Derrick Robinson, confronted a group of would-be car thieves trying to pry open the doors of a parked Toyota minivan, officials and witnesses said.
"We approached them and Mike said, 'What are you trying to do, break into peoples' cars?’ As Mike said that, the guy pulled out the gun and started shooting," Robinson told DNAinfo New York at the time.
Aponte allegedly fired off about five shots, striking Matusiak in the torso. The gunfire also injured Robinson as well as a 13-year-old girl who was passing nearby.
Matusiak was pronounced dead at the scene. Robinson and the teenager were taken to Elmhurst Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Ryan Cruzado, 18, was also arrested in connection to the case and charged with hindering prosecution.
