Day Five: Robert Kopek Testifies

Robert Kopek is an investigator, Officer Cormotto, at UPD. He was working on the day Lindsay was shot. Kopek was at headquarters training a new investiagtor when he heard radio call for officer down. While enroute, Kopek heard call about suspect car stopped on John St. Kopek and his partner, the trainee, were the second car on the scene on John St.

Kopek says he heard Sammy Rivera say, "A guy in a white hoodie shot the cop." Kopek says that Rivera said that twice.

Kopek checked the interior of the car. He saw a child in a safety seat behind the driver seat. Kopek thought the child was dead. He checked on the child and saw that he was OK.

Kopek noticed that there was blood and brain matter on the drivers side of the red Neon car.

Kopek took Rivera to UPD headquarters. Rivera was brought to an interview room in the CID area at UPD.

Kopek says there was no conversation with Rivera in the ride back to UPD. Kopek and Investigator Longo questioned Rivera.

Kopek says that he worked closely with Lindsay.

Kopek says that Cormotto told him that Lindsay had passed away. Kopek returned to the interogation room with Longo and Rivera. Kopek says he was very upset and left the room to get himself calmed down.

Kopek moved on to get away from Rivera and joined Naomi Diaz in another room. He asked her about acquiantances of Rivera. She gave Kopek two named Wesley Molina-Cirino and a person named Mahoon.

Diaz gave permission to return to her house to get photos of these people. They got the photos.

Kopek says that the photos remined him of a traffic stop in Utica in August 2006. Kopek backed up a traffic stop and the occupants of that car were Wesley Molina-Cirino, Jose Cirino Aiella, the man accused by Flaco to be the shooter. Also in the car was Jose Cirino, the cousin of Molina-Cirino and another person.