A paroled cop killer is back behind bars on charges he assaulted and nearly blinded his girlfriend, authorities said.
Steven Chirse, 64, was arrested Monday for allegedly beating up his much younger girlfriend in Brooklyn — two years after he was released from prison, where he served 36 years for murdering off-duty cop Angelo Brown during a robbery in 1984.
“This arrest shows that no amount of services or programming behind bars will make this individual fit for society,” said Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch. “Rehabilitation is not the goal in every case. This ruthless cop-killer needs to spend the rest of his life in prison so that he can’t victimize anyone else.”
He repeatedly punched his gal pal in the face while wearing a fist full of rings, according to a Brooklyn Criminal Court complaint. Chirse claims he didn’t hit her, and they fell on the ground during a struggle, a law enforcement source said.
The woman was nearly blinded and underwent surgery, the source said.
Chirse was convicted of murder for shooting Brown, 27, on Jan. 31, 1984.
The off-duty cop slipped on ice and fell while walking home from the Jaguar Motorcycle Club on Sterling Place and Buffalo Ave. in Crown Heights.
Chirse and his accomplice, Ronald Bush, saw the young cop on the ground, beat him with a stick and stole his revolver.
As they attempted take off in a stolen Ford, Brown jumped on the hood. After a wild ride down the street, Chirse and Bush stopped the car and Chirse fired a shot at Brown, but missed. Chirse shot Brown in the neck when the officer grabbed him by the jacket, witnesses testified at the 1985 trial.
Chirse applied for parole six times before he was approved in April 2020.
The PBA implied that he was released to lessen the spread of COVID-19.
“The parole board has shown time and again that it cares more about criminals than crime victims. They need to explain whether they are also using the pandemic to justify releasing cop-killers. If they are, they’re breaking the law,” Lynch said.
Chirse is being held at Rikers Island for assaulting his girlfriend, after a judge set bail at $25,000.
His lawyer, Paul Magel, declined to comment.
With Rocco Parascandola and John Annese