“Hey, let me show you my new gun!” That’s a phrase that, when heard from someone who smells like an Irish brewery, should invariably be answered in the negative. But Det. Matthew Sullivan was probably too drunk himself to fully realize that. The two had signed out of Brooklyn’s 75th precinct on a “robbery investigation” – wink, wink. Instead, they got some dinner and then went for a nightcap at a local watering hole. Once they close that down, they hopped into their unmarked cruiser. That’s when Det. Jay Poggi decided he just had to show his partner the bobbed hammer on his new Smith .38 . . .
And of course, as the ensuing events are relayed by the ink-stained wretches at nydailynews.com, that darned gun…just went off!
The gun suddenly discharged, sending a round into Sullivan’s right wrist, breaking a bone.
Poggi, 58, drove his wounded partner to Jamaica Hospital, where Sullivan, a 12-year veteran, underwent surgery. A police lieutenant called to the hospital noticed that Poggi — who had said he was the driver — had bloodshot eyes and boozy breath, according to a criminal complaint.
Poggi subsequently blew a .113 on the breath-ometer. Now Poggi, who’s described as being weeks away from retirement, has been arraigned on drunk driving charges while the Queens D.A. and the NYPD internal affairs boys investigate. There’s not telling how the whole mess will wash out (though the fact that Poggi was released without bail might be a hint), but you wouldn’t think the detective will be getting that gold watch he was probably expecting. So to try to fill the bling deficit in the Poggi household, we’ll be sending him some of our own special hardware to bring a little sparkle to his life.