Bell scene chief: 'I don't hide'

Supervising officer at Sean Bell shooting says he followed policy when he took cover as bullets flew

BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA | rocco.parascandola@newsday.com; Matthew Nestel contributed to this report

March 21, 2007

He has been criticized by colleagues for taking cover while five of his officers opened fire, but yesterday Lt. Gary Napoli, the supervisor the night of the Sean Bell shooting, had a message for his detractors: "I don't hide. "

In a brief interview with Newsday outside his Westchester home, Napoli, a 23-year veteran, derided published accounts that made him sound like a coward for taking cover.

He said he did exactly what he was trained to do in a situation where it is not clear what is happening: He sought cover in his unmarked Camry as quickly as possible, he said, then got out and crawled on his belly to the front of his car, all the while watching Bell's Altima.

"That's what the department advocates and that's what I did," Napoli says. "When you see 'hide behind the car' that's not what I did. I don't hide.

"I knew what I was doing. "

Three detectives in the sensational Nov. 25 case were indicted Monday, while another detective, an officer and Napoli were placed on modified duty - a desk job without their weapons - while the New York Police Department reviews the shooting and decides whether to bring them up on departmental charges that could cost them their jobs.

Napoli's lawyer, Howard Tanner, suggested his client should have nothing to worry about if the NYPD doesn't succumb to outside pressures.

"We want his actions judged on the facts, and not have him be a scapegoat for political reasons," Tanner said.

Napoli, 48, was in charge when a nightclub enforcement team rolled up on the Kalua Cabaret to watch for drug activity and prostitution at the Jamaica strip club.

The lieutenant and five others were posted in three unmarked cars nearby while Det. Gescard Isnora, Det. Marc Cooper and a third undercover entered the club at 1 a.m.

As the club was closing for the night, Isnora, police said, witnessed an argument outside the club, heard Joseph Guzman say he was going to get a gun, then followed Guzman, 31, Bell, 23, and another friend, Trent Benefield, also 23.

In a cell phone conversation, Isnora told Napoli what was happening, and the lieutenant in turn used a police radio to call the rest of the field team to the scene. What led to the shooting is in dispute. Sources have said Isnora identified himself as a cop but Bell's passengers said he never did, and that they thought they were being carjacked. Police said that when Bell tried to drive off, bumping Isnora, the detective opened fire and four colleagues - Cooper, detectives Michael Oliver and Paul Headley, and Officer Michael Carey - also started firing, 50 shots in all.

Napoli, who was in the front passenger seat, thought the shots were aimed at his car and sought cover inside the car "until the shots ended," according to a police report. When the shooting stopped, police sources said, Napoli slipped out of the Camry and sought cover by crawling on his belly to the front of the vehicle.

Several supervisors told Newsday that Napoli did the right thing. Firing his weapon, they said, would have only exacerbated the situation.

Other sources involved in the investigation said Napoli's failing that night was in not taking control of the situation before Isnora first approached Bell's car and fired.

Isnora, who fired 11 times, and Oliver, who fired 31 times, have been indicted for manslaughter, while Cooper, who fired four shots, has been indicted for reckless endangerment. Headley and Carey, meanwhile, were not indicted but, like Napoli, have been placed on modified assignment.

Matthew Nestel contributed to this report.