Judge convicts man for shooting at 4 Nassau cops in 2018, prosecutors say

A Uniondale man faces a possible life sentence after a judge convicted him for shooting at four Nassau cops as he fled a 2018 traffic stop in Hempstead, prosecutors said Thursday.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Patricia Harrington convicted Duane Costa, 40, following a bench trial, on four counts of first-degree attempted murder and one count of criminal use of a firearm, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office said.

Costa was a passenger in a 2015 Nissan Altima when Nassau police officers stopped the driver about 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 28, 2018 for failing to signal a left turn at Midwood Street and Lafayette Avenue, prosecutors said in a news release.

When the officers approached the sedan, they smelled alcohol and noticed Costa without a seat belt and "adjusting an object in his waistband," prosecutors said.

Officers ordered Costa to get out of the car. He emerged from the Nissan, according to prosecutors, "pushed past the officers and ran," dropping a .40-caliber handgun in the process.

With the officers in pursuit, prosecutors said, Costa pulled out a CZ-52 pistol and fired at both as well as two other Nassau cops who had joined the foot chase. Costa was later found in a yard on Meriam Street and taken into custody.

None of the officers were hit or returned fire but Costa was determined to kill all four, according to the news release.

"Even when his gun fell to the ground, Costa did not stop, pulled out another gun, aimed at the officers’ heads, and continued to shoot to kill," acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith said in a statement. "It is nothing short of a miracle that these officers survived and only by their reserve and restraint that the defendant was apprehended without bloodshed. Costa made a violent choice when he was stopped by police — a choice that will result in a life sentence."