NYPD officer Alain Schabarger pushed to his death after responding to domestic call

(CBS/WCBS) NEW YORK - NYPD officer Alain Schabarger rushed to Bergen Street in Brooklyn Sunday in response to a 9-1-1 domestic call, and in a subsequent scuffle with the suspect, Schabarger was pushed over a railing and fell 9-feet to his death.

"Alain Schabarger gave his life trying to save another's," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who joined police commissioner Ray Kelly to mourn the loss, CBS station WCBS reported.

Schabarger, 42, was responding to a domestic call in a building on Bergen Street and then tracked the suspect, George Villanueva, 40, to his father's apartment on St. Marks.

Police said during a fight between the men on the front stoop, Villanueva pushed Schabarger over a railing. The officer fell nine feet onto a cement stairwell, breaking his neck.

The ten-year NYPD veteran was later pronounced dead at Lutheran Hospital.

Villanueva had one handcuff on his wrist when he allegedly pushed Schabarger, with both hands.

Neighbor William Daly said the suspect, Villanueva, has a long rap sheet, with two dozen run-ins with police. "I think it was just a matter of time," he told the station.

Daly said he frequently saw Villanueva and his girlfriend's volatile relationship erupt outside on the street.

Villanueva has 28 prior arrests mostly for robbery and burglary, according to police.

The 40-year-old was arraigned overnight on first-degree murder charges and is being held without bail, according to the Wall Street Journal reports.