Life Imitates Art, and....

Good evening to all.

Sometimes, life imitates art, and it ain't pretty. How does someone go from starring in movies such as A Bronx Tale w/ Robert DeNiro, Crimson Tide w/ Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Renaissance Man w/ Danny DeVito, Enemy of the State w/ Will Smith, The Adventures of Pluto Nash w/ Eddie Murphy, and television shows such as The Soprano's, and NYPD Blue, to being accused of burglary and the actual shooting death of a member of the NYPD? Maybe the details of his arrest in June of this year might shed some light, when officers found four packets of heroin in his vehicle during a stop for a traffic offense. It's always a shame to hear about something like this happening, the kid had a promising career ahead of him, but drugs appear to have found their way into the mix, and the downward spiral took its toll. Lillo Brancato lived the dream of many a kid who grew up in a number of New York neighborhoods, to make a life in movies basically playing a kid from the neighborhood, how cool would that be? To make your film debut in a DeNiro movie? Even cooler.

I can't help but wonder how he didn't even learn anything from his role on The Soprano's, where one of the characters battles heroin addiction, and comes to realize his life is spiraling out of his control, and another episode (in which he starred) where he plays a wannabe gangster who plans a caper, only to find himself immediately in over his head, things didn't go as he planned, people got shot, and it eventually ends in his demise at the hands of mob boss Tony.

If the details of Brancato's burglarly attempt are correct, things didn't go as planned either, he and his accomplice Steve Armento from Yonkers, NY were discovered by an off duty police officer while attempting to enter the basement of a house in the Bronx, shots were fired, and the officer was killed. Brancato and Armento were injured in the exchange of gunfire, and were quickly apprehended by responding officers, both are listed in serious condition at a New York area hospital. Brancato received gunshot wounds to the chest and groin, Armento received gunshot wounds to the abdomen, chest, shoulder, and leg.

I wrote most of this in the past tense, because the story does detail the death of what was once a promising future, even if found innocent of the charges, Brancato is not very likely to make a return to film or television. My hope is that he seeks help for any drug problems he might have, and that he seeks to perform some sort of act of restitution for the family of the fallen officer. Nothing will bring the man back to his family, and no dollar amount will ever be enough, but nobody deserves to pay with their life for the foolishness of someone else's fall from grace. My prayers go out for the family of Officer Daniel Enchautegui, who was only 28.