Officer Robert Sorrentino, a seven-year NYPD veteran assigned to the 101st Precinct, was shot while pursuing suspects after a robbery at a social club in the Edgemere section of Queens in April 1980. He chased one of five fleeing men into a darkened schoolyard at 595 Beach 19th Street in Far Rockaway, where he was ambushed and shot five times. His partner, having apprehended another suspect, heard the shots and found Sorrentino gravely wounded.

Sorrentino survived 15 hours of emergency surgery but died two weeks later. All five suspects in the robbery and shooting were eventually apprehended; the gunman was identified as Marcel Marable. The five men, aged 25, 26, 26, 38, and 50, were convicted on December 10, 1981, and sentenced on January 7, 1982, to 25 years to life. The gunman died in prison on July 17, 1984; three other suspects also died while incarcerated, and one of the 26-year-old men was paroled on July 28, 2020.

Sorrentino is survived by his wife and three stepchildren, his parents, and five siblings. Does anyone have memories of Officer Sorrentino or information about the case to share?