'No criminal wrongdoing' in Breitkopf slay

Prosecutors wrapping up their investigation of a friendly-fire shooting in Massapequa Park last March that killed a Nassau police officer have found no criminal wrongdoing, a law enforcement source said Wednesday.

The finding in the probe of Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf's death comes just days after John Capano, an off-duty agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was fatally shot amid the confusion of a Seaford drugstore robbery on New Year's Eve. Sources said the fatal bullet in Capano's death likely came from the gun of a retired Nassau police lieutenant.

The source would not comment on the specifics of the report, or on whether prosecutors plan to use the report to make recommendations on police procedures in such situations.

Prosecutors for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice have been investigating the Breitkopf shooting for about nine months and are close to releasing their final report on the incident, Rice spokesman John Byrne said.

"The DA's office has conducted an exhaustive investigation in the wake of the tragic death of Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf," Byrne said. "Comprehensive evidence testing and witness interviews have taken months to complete and we expect to release a report by the end of January."

Breitkopf, 40, of Selden, a member of the elite Bureau of Special Operations, was in plainclothes and carrying a rifle pointed down when he walked up to a home where Nassau officers minutes earlier had shot and killed Anthony DiGeronimo, 21, after he allegedly threatened officers with a knife.

A pair of Metropolitan Transportation Authority officers went to the scene from a Long Island Rail Road station four blocks away to offer assistance after hearing a Nassau police radio call. MTA Officer Glenn Gentile mistook Breitkopf for a threat and shot him.

Gentile, who was placed on sick leave immediately following the March 12 shooting, returned to work on April 11 under "restricted or light duty" and is not carrying his weapon.

Paula Breitkopf, the officer's widow, and Nassau Police Benevolent Association president James Carver said Wednesday that they wouldn't comment before seeing a copy of the report.

MTA spokeswoman Marjorie Anders also declined to comment, pending the report's release. "The MTA PD is not actively investigating this incident so as not to interfere with the Nassau investigation. We are awaiting for the Nassau district attorney to make a final determination on the case," she said.

Prosecutors have said they are collaborating with police to investigate Capano's shooting and will begin conducting witness interviews this week.

With Tania Lopez

and Alfonso A. Castillo