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Ex-NYPD cop accused in ex's stabbing death had tumultuous relationship with victim, suspect's father says
Updated October 23, 2015 2:10 PM
By TANIA LOPEZ AND NICOLE FULLER tania.lopez@newsday.com,nicole.fuller@newsday.com
The father of the Centereach man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in New Jersey before jumping in front of a subway train said Friday the couple had a tumultuous relationship that bordered on volatile.
Arthur Lomando's dad said his son and Suzanne Bardzell, 48, were dating for three years on and off but "they fought like cats and dogs."
Lomando, 44, a former NYPD officer, is a suspect in the killing of Bardzell, who was found fatally stabbed Thursday afternoon in the driveway of her home in Midland Park, New Jersey, authorities said.
VIDEOSuspect in New Jersey stabbing in custodyBergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli tweeted Thursday night that Lomando "threw himself in front of a NYC subway" and was in surgeryy at Harlem Hospital Center in Manhattan with "severe injuries to his head and legs."
Late Thursday, an NYPD spokesman confirmed that a man jumped in front of a train at the 168th Street A/C stop at 4:25 p.m. Both of the man's legs were severed, and he was taken to Harlem Hospital Center, he said. The spokesman said he could not confirm the man's identity or that he was wanted in connection with the New Jersey killing.
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The NYPD said Friday morning that the man remained hospitalized.
Lomando's father, Arthur Lomando Sr., said his son initially was a "John Doe" at the hospital. He had no ID on him, but investigators were able to reach Lomando's father because his son had a cellphone on him.
Lomando's father said he found out about the stabbing Friday morning, after arriving in New York from Las Vegas.
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I am sick to death of what happened," said Lomando Sr. "That he actually took her life. It's beyond comprehension. He's in the hospital without any legs. Both lives. Both lives destroyed."
Lomando Sr. said prosecutors are pressing charges, so when he got to the hospital he was told he couldn't see his son, one of his eight children.
The father said his son had plans to fly out to visit him in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Arthur Lomando, a 10-year NYPD veteran who was fired and who unsuccessfully sued to regain his job, confronted Bardzell as she sat in her car just before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, News 12 New Jersey reported. He smashed the window and stabbed her with a machete; the car was still running when police arrived, News 12 reported.
The pair dated for much of the past three years but recently broke up, according to News 12. Molinelli told News 12 New Jersey that Bardzell got a restraining order against Lomando on Oct. 14. Lomando violated the restraining order a few days later, according to News 12.
At the home of Lomando's parents in Henderson, Nevada, a woman who identified herself on the phone as Lomando's sister said her brother is divorced, and she declined to comment on Thursday's allegations. "My parents are on their way to New York on a plane right now to see how he is doing," she said. "I'm trying to cope with this right now."
When asked whether her brother has a lawyer, she said: "They're not even sure he'll make it through the night so I'm trying to focus on that right now."
Bardzell was a special-education teacher in the Teaneck school district and was previously married and is survived by two teenage sons, News 12 reported.
The Midland Park Police Department declined to release any information on the killing and referred an inquiry Thursday night to the Bergen County prosecutor's office.
Lomando began working for the NYPD in 1994. Between July 2000 and October 2000, he was involved in three misconduct incidents, after which the NYPD accused him of refusing a sergeant's order, making false claims, insubordination and taking an unauthorized absence from an assignment, according to Lomando's lawsuit.
In the suit, Lomando claimed the NYPD ultimately fired him in 2004 "days before his ordinary disability was to take effect," which he claimed "was in bad faith and with the intent to frustrate his disability retirement."
A judge ruled in the NYPD's favor in 2005.
According to online court records, Lomando has several lien judgments against him, including a 2007 judgment for $74,735 from North Fork Bank.
Lomando was arrested in October 2013 on misdemeanor charges of criminal misconduct-intentional damaging of property. His case has been continued and was due to be presented in court next April.
Lomando's uncle, Kenneth Lomando, of Peoria, Arizona, said early Friday morning that he was "extremely" upset about the allegations against his nephew. "I'm really upset and I really don't want to speak about it," Kenneth Lomando said by telephone.
With Gary Dymski
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