Both men, now hospitalized for treatment, have been with the Trenton force for years. Watch video
TRENTON — They are simply “two of the best cops on the job,” Trenton Police Sgt. James Dellaira said about veteran Detectives Edgar Rios and James Letts, who sustained serious wounds this morning when a domestic violence suspect shot at them.
“They brought their experience and their dedication to the people they had to deal with to this job every day,” Dellaira said, describing them as “premier detectives.”
Both men, now hospitalized for treatment, have been with the Trenton force for years, and like seasoned professionals they have always remained fully committed to the daily grind of police work, friends and coworkers said today.
Rios and Letts were accompanying a domestic violence victim back to her home on Hobart Avenue yesterday morning when her ex-boyfriend, city resident Eric McNeil, turned up and began shooting, police said.
Though the officers returned fire, Rios was shot twice in the torso and abdomen while Letts was hit once in the right shoulder, police said.
Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini said today that Letts was in stable condition, alert and visiting with family and is expected to be released from Capital Health Regional Medical Center within a few days.
Rios was still in “critical but stable” condition tonight, Bocchini said, after undergoing “extensive trauma surgery” to stop internal bleeding.
Getting news that police officers have been wounded is a powerful shock, Bocchini said.
Eric McNeil, 23, was shot and killed by Trenton police today after he opened fire on two officers investigating a domestic violence incidence. McNeil shot and wounded the two officers. “When you get a call that you have two officers down, your heart sinks,” Bocchini said. “You tear up. This is a family situation.”
City Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr., said Letts and Rios were able to seamlessly take on extra work in recent years after a significant budget cut left the department with 100 fewer officers.
“A lot of the work in the detective bureau is done by people doing two or three things, wearing two or three hats,” Rivera said. Rios and Letts have always done what the department needed them to do, Rivera said. “They’re both excellent officers with excellent careers.”
In 2007, the Trenton Kiwanis named Rios the Officer of the Year, an honor that surprised Rios at the time.
“I don’t think there’s anything I’d change, and I love my job,” Rios said at the time. “And that’s probably why I’m still around.”
Rios, a 30-year veteran of the Trenton department, has worked much of his career in the homicide bureau where assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Lew Korngut said he has always been there “to answer the call.”
“Eddie never shied away from work,” Korngut said. “Anytime anybody needed someone to do a job on a homicide, Eddie was there. He’s always there.”
Korngut described Rios as a “people person” who is highly successful because he can make witnesses and suspects comfortable during interviews and interrogations.
“Eddie has a lot of friends in the department and a lot of friends in our office because he knows how to work with people,” Korngut said. “That’s the most valuable asset you can have when you’re dealing with homicides. You have to be able to work with people.”
But Rios has proved to be quick on his feet, especially when Korngut would call him as a witness in a murder trial, which he’s done plenty of times over the last 15 years, Korngut said.
“When Eddie testified, he was one of the best witnesses I’ve ever had. He never got stumped on the stand, he was able to think clearly and had a good way with juries,” Korngut said. “He has an ability on the witness stand to take a difficult question and turn it around to come out with a positive response.”
Contact Mike Davis at (609) 989-5708 or mdavis@njtimes.com.
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