Home Invasion Robbery Attempt Leads To Murder

 

By LIZ GOFF
Family, friends and onlookers gathered last weekend at a Queens church to mourn the death of a 29-year-old Ozone Park man who was shot to death on September 9 while protecting his father from gunmen in a home invasion robbery.

Neighbors said they weren’t surprised to learn the circumstances of the shooting and described Gerardo Antoniello as someone who would “do anything for anybody”.

“He was a very loving, very decent man who cared about other people and was always willing to help out,” neighbor Angelina Fiorio said. “No one was surprised by what he did.”
Police are hunting for the gunmen who coldly stood over Antoniello as he lay face down on the floor of his home at about 10 p.m. on September 9 and pumped one round into the back of his head, in front of his devastated father.

Neighbors said Romeo Antoniello screamed, “Why not me? Why my son?”

Moments before the shooting, a woman investigators believe was watching the home on North Conduit Avenue for the gunmen, rang the doorbell and asked Gerardo for directions, police sources said.

Gerardo spoke with his mother and returned to tell the woman he couldn’t help her. As she walked away, Romeo Antoniello, 61, pulled his car into the driveway. Police said Antoniello was returning from a day at his nearby restaurant, Romeo’s Pizzeria.

Gerardo peered from the door to see his father being accosted by two men. Sources said investigators believe the two men intended to tie up the family and snatch the cash the senior Antoniello was bringing home from the restaurant.

The suspects started pistol whipping Romeo and dragged him, by the arms, through the door of the house, police said. As the suspects dragged Romeo through the doorway, they were surprised by Gerardo, who rushed to his father’s defense.

The thugs turned on Gerardo and beat him to the ground, police said. As his father looked on, one of the suspects pushed the gun to Gerardo’s head and fired the fatal shot. The pair fled the scene empty handed, police said. The parents called another son, Carmine, an NYPD officer assigned to a Queens task force, who called 911. Police who responded to the scene recovered a knapsack and duct tape left behind by the attackers.

Gerardo was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Center in critical condition. He was taken off life support at about 6 a.m. and died almost immediately, police said.

Family members who looked on as the casket was carried to a waiting car outside the church were brought to tears when a funeral director placed a large floral arrangement shaped like a New York Yankees logo in the car.

“He was a crazy Yankees fan,” a cousin said. “He was going crazy last week, with the way the Yankees are playing and the Jeter thing. I guess he knows how it all turned out.”

Police are urging anyone with information on the two suspects and their female accomplice to call the Crimestoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. The Hotline is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.