Peter Figoski (AP)
UNBEARABLE GRIEF: Frank Figoski (left), dad of slain cop Peter Figoski (right), yesterday in court, where he later fainted. (
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The trial of Peter Figoski’s alleged killers was thrown into chaos yesterday when the slain cop’s dad suddenly slumped over in the Brooklyn courtroom.
Figoski’s ex-wife, Paulette, first noticed Frank Figoski, 79, staring blankly ahead, his shoulders hunched over, in his seat during the grilling of a turncoat accomplice of the two men on trial. She began waving her hand in front of his face.
When he didn’t respond, police-union President Pat Lynch and one of Frank’s sons leaped out of their seats to help.
The two men and other police officers laid Frank across the bench, where he regained consciousness.
The dad was taken by an ambulance to Long Island College Hospital accompanied by his wife, two sons and several officers.
He was to stay overnight for observation.
When the trial resumed, Judge Alan Marrus told the packed courtroom that he “seems to be doing fine.”
“It was just a culmination of over a year’s worth of heartache,” said cop and PBA trustee John Giangrasso, who helped Frank Figoski into the ambulance.
“No father, especially at his age, should have to go through what this man and his family have gone through in the past 14 months.”
The elderly man’s health scare came a day after Mary Ann Figoski, 79, his wife and Peter Figoski’s mom, broke down in tears as prosecutors showed photos of their son’s bloodstained badge and uniform.
Yesterday’s drama came as crook-turned-rat Ariel Tejada was being grilled by the defense.
Tejada, 23, is testifying against career criminal and alleged cop killer Lamont Pride, 28, and getaway driver Michael Velez, 22. Pride and Velez both face murder charges in Peter Figoski’s slaying.
Pride and Velez stared down the snitch, who flipped on them in exchange for a lighter sentence, when he waltzed into court to take the stand.
Tejada revealed that Pride racked his gun before storming the East New York apartment and that Velez knew about the robbery and even asked for a cut.
“Trouble said, ‘Can I get PC?’ meaning profit, percentage,” Tejada testified, using Velez’s nickname and street slang.
“Liar,” Velez mouthed to his lawyer.
Velez claims that he didn’t know Pride was armed or that he and the other thugs were planning to rob the drug dealer.
Career criminal Tejada, the son of an MTA bus driver and a registered nurse, cliamed that Pride wanted to rob drug dealers along with him and ringleader Nelson “Nels” Morales in order to earn some cash.
The prosecution rested after Tejada’s testimony.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona