Ex-Cop Jailed for 21 Years; Murdered Ex-PAPD Officer
By MIA GOLDBERG
A former NYPD officer was sentenced June 25 to 21 years in prison after admitting to gunning down a retired Port Authority Police Officer in 2006 in a case of road-rage.

STEVEN VITALE

Former Detective Allen Lau pleaded guilty June 10 to first-degree manslaughter for killing Steven Vitale, a decorated 21-year veteran of the PAPD, on April 10, 2006. Mr. Lau sprayed 15 rounds from a 9-mm semi-automatic weapon at Mr. Vitale and his wife in a parking lot while they were walking to a Chinese restaurant in Staten Island.

Theories on Explosion

Police believe Mr. Lau was incensed either because he had been cut off by a car on the expressway or he thought Mr. Vitale had been driving too slowly in front of him.

Prosecutors in the Staten Island District Attorney's Office originally charged Mr. Lau with second-degree murder - which carries a maximum penalty of 25-years-to-life.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen J. Rooney called the crime "senseless and heinous."

Karen Vitale, the slain officer's widow, called Mr. Lau "a disgrace to the men and women who go out every day and put their lives on the line to uphold the law."

Mr. Vitale received the PAPD's Medal of Valor for his rescue efforts in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He earlier began a police fund-raising drive for the New Jersey Special Olympics by sponsoring a torch run that grew to attract hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions annually.