Burglar Takes Plea Deal In Shooting Of Nassau County Cop
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A man who shot a Nassau County police officer responding to a home invasion has agreed to a plea deal that would put him behind bars for 30 years.
Cong Xu, a Chinese national living in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the shooting of Officer Mohit Arora following a New Hyde Park home invasion in August 2013, CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported.
Xu, 22, is expected to be sentenced April 2 to a mandatory 30 years in prison -- 25 for assault, five for burglary.
Man Takes Plea Deal In Shooting Of Nassau County Cop
Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the charge of attempted murder, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported.
Arora, now recovered enough to be placed on modified desk duty, entered the courtroom flanked by fellow cops and came face to face with the man who pulled the trigger and nearly ended his life.
"I'm very grateful and thankful to be standing here and talking to you guys," Arora, 33, told reporters, including WCBS 880's Sophia Hall, outside the courthouse. "I learned a lot from this incident. Police job is a very dangerous job. A lot of officers got killed doing this job. Me and my family suffered a lot. I want to leave this bad dream behind me and move on."
Man Takes Plea Deal In Shooting Of Nassau County Cop
He said the physical and psychological scars remain with him.
"It was a long recovery for me," said Arora, who approved the plea deal. "I was in a lot of pain. It takes a lot of toll on my family, and we're going to move on to better things now."
Arora, formerly of the NYPD and with the Nassau force since 2007, was shot in his stomach and hip when Xu turned during a foot chase and fired his 9 mm handgun at the officer three times.
Xu and an accomplice tried to escape through neighbors' yards before eventually being apprehended.
The accomplice, Renhang Qiu, pleaded guilty last May to burglary and will serve seven years in prison. He had agreed to testify against Xu.
The home that was invaded belongs to Qui's relatives, police said. No one was hurt inside the home.
"On that particular night, our officer was shot," said James Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association. "We've gone through five line-of-duty deaths in Nassau County since 2012, and thank God, we are thankful that this wasn't No. 6."
After Xu completes his sentence, he will be on probation for 10 years and could be deported.
