Croton Man Found Dead After Injuring Police with Bullets

A 50-year-old Croton-on-Hudson man was found dead inside a home on Quaker Bridge Rd. Wednesday after barricading himself and opening fire on police officers.

The incident began at about 12:20 p.m. when New York State Police received a report of a barricaded subject armed with a gun. Troopers, in conjunction with the Westchester County Police Department, established a safe perimeter around the residence, and crisis negotiators attempted for nearly 12 hours to convince Christopher Pesavento to surrender peacefully.

During the negotiations, Pesavento fired multiple rounds at police officers from inside the residence, striking two Westchester officers with apparent bullet fragments. The officers suffered non-life-threatening wounds. One was treated at the scene for an arm injury, while the other was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with a wound to his leg.

State Police estimate that the subject fired about 40 rounds at Special Response Team (SRT) members from inside the home. Police on the scene did not return fire. A ballistic shield used by SRT was heavily damaged by gunfire.

A County Police robot outfitted with a camera was utilized during the incident to obtain images from inside the residence.

Shortly after midnight on Sept. 15, Pesavento was discovered deceased inside the residence. The cause of death is pending investigation by the Westchester Medical Examiner’s Office.

The incident remains under investigation by State Police and the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

Rick Pezzullo

Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/