RED HOOK — A man who yelled, "I'm going to kill you" and fired a bullet into a tenant's door inside a local public housing building has been arrested on a host of charges, police officials said Tuesday.
Jose Pizarro, 45, of The Bronx, was caught on Feb. 17 inside a building in the Red Hooks Houses West complex near Lorraine and Hicks streets, according to a police spokesman.
"From what I understand, as the officers were taking him out ... [neighbors] were actually cheering the officers," 76th Precinct chief Elliot Colon said Tuesday night at the precinct's community council meeting, calling it a "great arrest."
Over a two-day period in February, police responded to two incidents involving Pizarro as a result of 911 calls.
On Feb. 16, a 45-year-old woman was in her apartment at the Lorraine Street building when she heard someone knocking on the door, officials said.
As she walked toward the door to answer it, "she hears a bang," Colon said.
The woman opened the door but found no one outside. Instead she saw a bullet hole on her door and a shell casing laying on the floor, Colon said. She called 911 and police responded to the scene.
The next day, on Feb. 17, the same woman heard knocking on her door again but also heard a man screaming, "'I'm going to kill you,'" Colon said.
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When the woman looked through her door's peephole, she saw a man going into an adjoining apartment and called 911 again.
When police arrived and approached the apartment the suspect had entered, Pizarro opened the door, Colon said.
Police also found a 75-year-old woman inside the apartment who "felt bad" for Pizarro and allowed him to temporarily stay on her couch, Colon said. With her permission, police searched the home, the commanding officer added.
"Right where he's sleeping, they recover a 9mm firearm," Colon said.
The loaded revolver was found inside a laundry bag near the couch that also contained men's clothing and other items, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.
Authorities arrested Pizarro after they discovered he was also wanted for stalking and harassing his ex-girlfriend in an earlier incident in Brooklyn on Jan. 19, Colon and a police spokesman said.
A ballistics test later determined the shell casing found on the floor matched the gun found in Pizarro's possession.
He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, harassment and disorderly conduct for the February incident. For the Jan. 19 incident, he was charged with aggravated harassment, stalking and promoting suicide attempt, a police spokesman said.
Pizarro was indicted for the February incident, the DA's office said.
His bail was set at $30,000.
Pizarro was previously arrested and taken into state custody in 1996 for robbery, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections said.
