Posted on 01/06/2012 6:40:38 AM PST by marktwain
A former sheriff’s deputy and World War II pilot shot and injured an armed intruder in a quiet Greenbrae neighborhood Wednesday morning in what law enforcement described as a random residential burglary, Twin Cities police said.
Jay Leone, 90, was shot once in the face after he encountered the suspect at about 10:46 a.m. on Jan.4 in the 300 block of Via La Cumbre, a one-way street off Eliseo Drive in Greenbrae.
Leone, armed with a .38-caliber handgun, fired three times and hit the suspect in the torso area, according to police. The suspect fled and made it to a vehicle parked nearby but pulled off the roadway a few miles away and called 911 claiming he had shot himself.
The suspect, identified by police as Samuel Joseph Cutrufelli, 30, was apprehended about a mile away. The victim and the suspect were transported to Marin General Hospital. Twin Cities police spokesman Sgt. Mike Norton said the men were in stable condition.
“He’s 90 and I hope he’s in good condition,” said Sara Navon, who has lived in the downstairs unit for the past eight years and knew Leone well.
“He was a very strong, very fit man,” she said. “I always knew he had a weapon. He always said not to worry about anything. When I called out to him and didn’t hear anything I knew something was very wrong.”
Police said Cutrufelli has an extensive criminal history but declined to elaborate. The vehicle he was driving was found in another jurisdiction. Police were awaiting search warrants for the residence and vehicle, which stopped at Tiburon Boulevard in San Rafael.
Norton said investigators discovered some stolen property in the vehicle. He said the suspect used a semiautomatic handgun to shoot Leone. Police said the incident was random and that there appeared to be no connection between the victim and suspect.
According to police, the suspect kicked in the front door of the two-story home. Police received a 911 call reporting unusual noises coming from the upstairs unit.
“I was watching TV downstairs and had just come back from the gym,” Navon said. Navon said several minutes later, after hearing more noises, she went upstairs to check on her landlord.
“I’m not surprised at all he was able to shoot at him,” Navon said. Navon said Leone has two grown children and that he fought in Europe during World War II. She also said he had previously worked in law enforcement.
Police were unsure of where Leone worked as a deputy. A Marin County sheriff’s department crime scene truck was on scene late Wednesday. The neighborhood was cordoned off by yellow police tape. The brown and tan home is at the corner of Via La Cumbre and Corte Placida.
Police said Cutrufelli had known addresses in Novato and Petaluma.
Marin General Hospital officials declined comment on the condition of the two men.
Contact Joe Wolfcale at jwolfcale@marinscope.com.
14 wounded in shootings across Chicago
Chicago Tribune
Staff report
1:04 a.m. CST, January 6, 2012
Fourteen people were wounded in separate shootings across the city Thursday.
Oh geez, my husband’s aunt lives on Eliseo Dr. in Greenbrae.
We used to live a few blocks from there in Larkspur.
‘Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me… I’ve got a daughter!’ I said, ‘f- you … pow, pow, pow, pow!’”
encountered the suspect at about 10:46 a.m.
Very brazen.
“Police said Cutrufelli has an extensive criminal history but declined to elaborate.”
They declined to elaborate because this guy makes the criminal justice system look like a freaking joke.
The recidivism rate for criminals back out on the street is 65% within three years.
Better to just shoot them dead during the commission of a crime and the recidivism rate drops to, oh, about zero.
Kill them all. Let God sort it out.
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