Off-Duty Officer Robbed Of Gun In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Wednesday were searching for a man they said attacked an off-duty NYPD officer, and stole her gun, in the Bronx.
Surveillance cameras captured images of the suspect.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, the attack happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday in the parking garage of the female officer's apartment building, on Bronx Boulevard and East 226th Street in the Williamsbridge section.
The 41-year-old off-duty officer was getting into her car in the underground garage when police said she was jumped from behind. The suspect grabbed the officer's gold chain from around her neck and demanded her wallet, police said.
When the officer tried to reach for her department-issued 9mm handgun in her purse, police said the attacker punched her in the nose, causing her to drop the bag. The gun fell out and the suspect took off with the gun and the purse, CBS2's Sanchez reported.
"He hit her like four times and you know, she went down on the floor on the fourth one," building superintendent Robert Rodriguez said.
The officer sustained abrasions and a contusion to her face and was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where her condition was reported to be stable.
Off-Duty Officer Robbed Of Gun In The Bronx
"The guy take the bag; the wallet. He has, you know, the gun," said neighbor Teresa Dotel. "I don't feel good about that."
Dotel lives on the same floor as the officer, and said she could have been the victim. Dotel pulled out of the same garage just minutes before the assault.
"Thank God my husband was with me. Maybe he was, you know, one space, like, to do something. He saw my husband and me he don't do nothing," Dotel said. "But couple minutes later, she go downstairs to get her car to go work. And he do that. Thank God not me. I don't feel good about my neighbor."
Neighbors said they instantly believed the suspect was from the area because they say they had seen him before -- inside the building.
Dotel said she rode in an elevator with the suspect last Thursday, and she alerted the building super.
"You have to check," Dotel said. "This guy's here. He don't live here. He's maybe living or sleeping here."
"I seen him before and I warned him," added Rodriguez. "I don't want him in the building."
The off-duty officer is a 10-year veteran of the NYPD, based in Manhattan. Police said she was not seriously injured.
Police describe the suspect as a black man, about six feet tall and weighing 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white tank top, dark pants and a watch on his left wrist.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
