Law enforcement officials: 2 LI men facing murder charges in NJ arrested in Plainview killing

Two suspected Suffolk gang members, already accused of murder in New Jersey, face charges in a fatal Plainview shooting in which they followed a man home after a possible road rage dispute and opened fire, authorities said.

Douglas Coudrey, 22, of Eastport, and Kenneth Regan, 21, of Centereach, both alleged to be members of the Latin Kings, were charged Thursday with second-degree murder in connection with the Jan. 14 killing of Justin Gottlieb, 27, police said.

The pair pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Thursday before Judge Karen Moroney in First District Court in Hempstead. Both defendants were held without bail and face 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

“The facts in this case allege you hunted down a victim after coming into contact with someone you don’t know,” Moroney told the defendants, “then followed him home and killed him.”

Members of Gottlieb's family sat in the courtroom and sobbed as prosecutors recounted the case. Coudrey, who wore a red and white striped jail jumpsuit, had to be relocated to another part of the courtroom because court officers said he was taunting Gottlieb's family.

A Legal Aid attorney appointed to represent Regan said her client intended to testify before a grand jury.

Christopher Cassar, Coudrey’s defense attorney, said his client "denies any involvement and was surprised he was brought over into this case.” 

Coudrey and Regan have been on a "criminal tear" across the region in recent weeks, including armed robberies and a carjacking, said Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commander of the Nassau police homicide squad. 
The duo were arrested in Suffolk County on Jan. 22 and charged with murder in connection with a Jan. 18 shooting in Lodi, New Jersey, that left the driver dead and a passenger in critical condition.

In the Plainview killing, authorities said a white sedan pulled up next to Gottlieb just after 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 as he tried to get out of his red Ford Explorer in front of his home on Margaret Drive East. Shots rang out and Gottlieb was hit twice by gunfire, police said.

Shortly before he died, Gottlieb described the make and model of the vehicle to his parents and investigators then identified the defendants, Fitzpatrick said.

Gottlieb was targeted, potentially in a "road rage incident," during the 15-minute drive home from his job in Jericho, said Fitzpatrick, adding that police have surveillance video of the altercation.

"They don't know each other," Fitzpatrick said of Gottlieb and the suspects. "But what we do know is things that Justin said and that these guys were chasing him to the house and that they were both aggressively driving on the road."

The defendants were in a rented white Ford Fusion with Pennsylvania license plates at the time of the Plainview shooting, Fitzpatrick said. Suffolk police contacted Nassau authorities later to report a similar incident involving the same make and model sedan, Fitzpatrick said.

Both men denied involvement Gottlieb's killing Thursday as they were taken from police headquarters in Mineola.

"I'm innocent. Free my little brother," shouted Coudrey, referring to Regan. "We innocent. We are going to prove that. Watch. We didn't do nothing. They are targeting us."

Regan added: "We didn't do nothing. They didn't find nothing."

Regan and Coudrey also face murder charges in connection with the  shooting on westbound Interstate 80 in Lodi, authorities said.

The defendants pulled up next a 2019 Honda Civic on the highway after they followed the car from Manhattan and fired multiple times, authorities said.

New Jersey State Police found the Honda's driver, Luis Perez, 27, of the Bronx, dead at the scene with gunshot wounds to his neck and chest, officials said. A passenger in the front seat, Jose Mercado, 24, also of the Bronx, was shot in the chest but survived, officials said. A second passenger was uninjured, Bergen County prosecutors said.

Authorities in New Jersey charged Regan and Coudrey with one count each of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree attempted murder, officials said.

Authorities tracked the men last month to a home in Eastport where they observed Coudrey, Regan and a third person leave the residence and get into a car, officials said.

Detectives attempted to pull the car over, authorities said, but the vehicle sped off and crashed into a fence a short distance away. The three were taken into custody, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Coudrey later escaped from Suffolk police headquarters but was recaptured.

During a court-ordered search of the vehicle and Coudrey’s residence, investigators found a loaded .22-caliber rifle that had been modified for use as a submachine gun, along with a sawed-off shotgun, authorities said.

Ballistic reports show the weapon used to kill Gottlieb and Perez was a 9-millimeter handgun, Fitzpatrick said.

Coudrey and Regan were charged in Suffolk with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count each of second and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Coudrey was also charged with second-degree escape.

Regan has previous convictions for criminal possession of a controlled substance and giving contraband to a prisoner, records show. Coudrey has previous arrests for drug and weapons possession, menacing and DWI, and is awaiting sentencing in Suffolk on an attempted robbery conviction.

The defendants are due back in court in Nassau on Monday.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com,john.asbury@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert,

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.