The Lost Soprano
Lillo Brancato lived his dream. He played tough guys in the movies with De Niro and did a season with James Gandolfini’s crew. Then, on a dark, drug-fueled night in Yonkers, the gun went off, the cop was dead, and the dream became all too real.
By Steve Fishman
Published Feb 27, 2006
On Wednesday, December 7, three days before the killing, Lillo Brancato Jr. decided to dress. Like a gentleman, as he later put it. He pulled on brown pants with a light pinstripe and a gray suede jacket. Earlier, Lillo had gone tanning. It came out great, and to show off the results, he chose a white shirt with French cuffs, and a beautiful pair of cuff links. He’d had his hair cut that day, too, and it also came out beautiful, parted in the middle, not one wavy, dark strand out of place. In his apartment, upstairs in his parents’ home in Yonkers, he grabbed a sweater, a pullover, then thought better of it. With his hair so perfect, he had to go with the button-down.
Arrests
On June 10, 2005, Brancato was arrested by the Yonkers Police Department in Yonkers, New York, and charged with seventh-degree misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance. According to press reports, police pulled Brancato over for having a rear brake light out and found he had an expired registration and no other papers for the vehicle. He gave police permission to look in a cigarette box where they found four bags of heroin.
Arnow Place in the Bronx, the site of the shootout, was recently renamed in honor of the police officer who was killed by Brancato's accomplice
3117-3119 Arnow Place, Bronx, New York 10461, site of the shooting. The house left of the alleyway, number 3117, was Daniel Enchautegui's residence; number 3119, right of the alleyway, was the house that Brancato and his accomplice attempted to burglarize.On December 10, 2005, Brancato was arrested by the New York City Police Department in the Bronx on suspicion of murdering off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui. Enchautegui confronted Brancato, and his accomplice, 48-year-old Steven Armento, outside at a vacant house located at 3119 Arnow Place, next to his own, after hearing glass break. While Enchautegui waited for backup, a gunfight erupted. Enchautegui was shot and brought to the hospital where he died. Police arrested Brancato and Armento in the vicinity, both with multiple gunshot wounds and in critical condition. Armento, who is the father of Brancato's girlfriend Stephanie, was arraigned on first-degree murder. Brancato was arraigned on second-degree murder.[4]
Coincidentally, Enchautegui lived in the same building (in the Pelham Bay section of the borough) that Brancato's "A Bronx Tale" co-star Francis Capra once lived.[5] Officer Enchautegui had served with the New York City Police Department for three years and was assigned to the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.[6] In the New York Post,[citation needed] Brancato apologized to Enchautegui's family for his actions. His apology was met with anger and was called "worthy of an Academy Award" by Enchautegui's sister.
In 2006, Brancato told New York Magazine that he believes his life story would be film-worthy. However, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association stated that, in their opinion, Brancato should not be allowed to profit if a film is made about his life.[7]
