NEW YORK — An NYPD sergeant accused of shooting his wife’s trainer after catching the two during a late-night tryst has turned himself in, New York Post reported.
Justin Ellis, 35, was arraigned Wednesday after being indicted on an assault charge. He was released with a future court date, Nassau County officials confirmed.
Also named in the rare two-person inducement handed up by a grand jury on Nov. 16 was the trainer, Patrick Catania, the court document read.
Catania, of Point Lookout, was charged with attempted assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and trespassing, the indictment reads.
Ellis came home just after midnight on Oct. 25, 2019, and discovered the wife with her 30-year-old trainer in their Nassau County home in Seaford.
“He had a relationship with the woman who’s married to the police sergeant, a romantic relationship,” his lawyer Jason Russo, told The Post.
The two reportedly exchanged words before the trainer went to his car to grab a bat and the off-duty sergeant shot him twice.
The trainer was hit in the chest but survived.
Ellis claimed Catania had come at him with a bat.
Russo said his client only raised the bat when the cop pulled the gun.
“He didn’t swing a bat at anyone,” he added.
“He’s a little dazed and confused about how this result happened. It’s very confusing. I don’t know why Mr. Ellis wasn’t charged with attempted murder.”
The sergeant, who worked in the 103rd Precinct in Queens, has been suspended without pay, according to an NYPD spokeswoman.
His attorney did not return calls.
