Glen Estrada, left, ran after gunman who shot Peter Figoski, right. (Gregory P. Mango)
ON HIS TAIL: Surveillance video shows Officer Glenn Estrada pursuing Lamont Pride after the gunman shot Officer Peter Figoski.
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A tough Brooklyn detective broke down yesterday — his words and tears silencing a packed courtroom — as he described chasing down a suspected cop-killer only to return to the crime scene and find his partner dying from a gunshot wound to the face.
Prosecutors played surveillance videos that for the first time showed then-Officer Glenn Estrada chasing career criminal Lamont Pride for four blocks through East New York after the thug allegedly murdered cop and father-of-four Peter Figoski during a botched robbery in December 2011.
The heartbroken Estrada — who has told The Post he considered Figoski, his partner of four years, a big brother — testified how he pursued the armed thug through the dark streets, radioing for backup as he ran.
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“I put in a description of him and the direction he was running,” testified Estrada — who was promoted to detective shortly after the fatal shooting. “It looked to be a gun in his right hand.
“A few other patrol cars showed up, and the officers caught up to the perpetrator,” testified Estrada, 43. “We attempted to handcuff him. We were trying to pull his hands back, and I was trying to convey to my fellow officers that there was a gun involved.”
Pride and alleged getaway driver Michael Velez are both on trial for murder.
Estrada said he kept his eyes glued to Pride and was unaware one of the other robbers was running in front of the gunman. That crook escaped capture by slowing to a walk and pretending to check his phone as cop cars screeched in to help subdue Pride, one of the stunning videos shows.
Prosecutors revealed photos that showed the gun was ditched under a red car near where Pride was captured.
Estrada broke down when he described returning to the scene to find Figoski, 47, on a stretcher — and how his partner didn’t respond when he spoke to him. Estrada wiped tears from his eyes as the court watched in awed silence.
“Take your time,” said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Ken Taub. “No hurry.”
One of Figoski’s four daughters, Caitlyn, 19, was ashen-faced as she listened to Estrada describe her dad’s final moments.
Daughter Corinne, 15, bit her nails throughout the testimony and clutched one hand to her mouth as Estrada described how he found Figoski unresponsive.
Another officer, a young cop who was the first to find Figoski, took the stand after Estrada, and he, too, broke down describing the scene.
“I still didn’t recognize the male until I looked down to the waist and I saw a revolver,” said Officer Mario Gandini, his voice strained with emotion.
“Then I knew it was Officer Figoski. He was the only one who backed us up with a revolver,” Gandini said, explaining that some of the older cops, like Figsoki, still carried revolvers instead of the newer standard-issue Glock semiautomatics.
Gandini testified he ran to his patrol car to find something to cover Figoski’s face — but couldn’t find anything suitable.
In the morning’s testimony, prosecutors questioned crime-scene cops about photos that showed the shabby basement entryway where Figoski was killed, the large pool of blood that gathered under his body, and the murder weapon under the red car where it was tossed.
Two other men involved in the robbery will face trial later this year, while a third cooperated in exchange for a plea deal.
The trial continues today.