Queens Burglar Who Ended Cop's Career With Crowbar Pleads Guilty: DA

QUEENS, NY — The Queens man who ended the career of an NYPD officer with the swing of a crowbar pleaded guilty to assault Wednesday, prosecutors said.

Andres Tabares, 40, admitted to temporarily blinding Police Officer Anthony Spinella, hitting him in the eye after a chase through central Queens on April 16, 2019, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

“In pleading guilty, the defendant has taken responsibility for causing severe injuries to a police officer,” Katz said in a statement. “The defendant now faces a prison term as punishment for his criminal actions.”

Queens Supreme Court Justice Daniel Lewis will deliver on Oct. 7 a sentence that prosecutors believe could send Tabares away for 12 years, according to a press release.

Marlon Morales Moreira, 32, of Woodhaven, and Tabares’ co-conspirator in the attempted robbery, who has also been charged, is expected back in court on Sept. 21, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

Tabares and Morales Moreira tried to break in through the back door of a home on 153rd Street and 59th Avenue but were heard by the owner who called 911, according to prosecutors and a New York Post report.

Spinella chased down Tabares and caught him by the shirt, but Taberes swung a crowbar in the officer’s face, said prosecutors.

Spinella, who received awards like “Cop of the Month,” as cited by the 109th Precinct on Facebook, had to end his career, which started in July 2013, just a few months shy of his sixth anniversary on the force, according to police.

Prosecutors noted that when Tabares was arrested, he admitted “it was a mistake” and he was just “trying to get away.”