New arrest made in Sean Bell case

(New York - WABC, March 28, 2007) (WABC) -- Eyewitness News has learned there has been a new arrest in the Sean Bell case.

Reporter Nina Pineda first broke the story at 5 p.m. and now has the latest.

When an 11th hour witness appeared before the grand jury in the Sean Bell case, there was a lot of speculation on why that person took so long to come forward.

Sources tell Eyewitness News the witness, who had some very important information to share, was intimidated and threatened by a supervisor -- identified as 46-year-old Melvin Cordero.

We are told the supervisor was so worried about his own criminal record that he was trying to stop his employee from getting involved in the Sean Bell case.

Authorities say both men, the witness and the man arrested, are employees of a contracting company that was subcontracted with AirTrain.They work in the terminal where some of the errant bullets that were fired the night of the Sean Bell shooting ended up.

Sources say Cordero allegedly threatened the witness' job if he talked about what he saw. But the witness came forward anyway in the 11th hour during the grand jury testimony into Sean Bell's death, telling the jury he heard police identify themselves before they began firing -- and also before the car driven by the victim drove toward police.

Cordero allegedly told the witness not to go to the police after seeing and hearing the shooting below the AirTrain terminal in Jamaica.

He now faces one felony charge for intimidating a victim or witness, and two misdemeanors for tampering with a witness and coercion.

The 46-year-old man from Brooklyn was transported to Queens Criminal Courthouse and is expected to be arraigned early Thursday morning.

On Wednesday night, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown responded to the arrest.

"One of the major purposes of grand jury secrecy is to obtain the full cooperation of witnesses and to protect them from outside interference that might affect their testimony. This office will not tolerate the intimidation of, or tampering with, witnesses and is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who engage in such conduct," Brown said.

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