Off-duty cops kill, wound suspects in two cases

Two off-duty police officers wearing plain clothes turned the tables on their knife- and bat-wielding attackers in separate cases in Nassau and Suffolk early Tuesday; one of the would-be robbers was shot dead, while the other suspect was wounded.

In cases just 90 minutes apart, the officers fired at point-blank range at the suspects, who had tried to ambush them in their cars, police in both counties said.

"It is a night when they picked on the wrong victims," said Nassau Police Det. Lt. Mike Fleming, commander of the Fifth Squad detectives, adding: "Now, at least these thugs won't be out there, preying on innocent victims."

Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, a Nassau Police spokesman, said this is the only time he can think of that two officers fired their weapons at suspects under these circumstances on Long Island.

"There is no doubt," he said. "this is a rare occurrence."

The later shooting, which happened at 3 a.m. at Bubble Brush Car Wash at 6 Lincoln Ave. in Deer Park, occurred when two men with a bat assaulted a Nassau County police detective when he was vacuuming his car. The detective identified himself as an officer and fired at both suspects, killing one while the other fled, Suffolk police said.

"An off-duty Nassau County Police Department detective was utilizing a 24-hour car wash when two individuals intent on robbing him sneaked up behind him and began to beat him with an aluminum baseball bat," said Suffolk Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commander of the homicide squad.

Police identified the dead suspect as Erik Johnson, 24, of 89 Second Ave., Bay Shore, who was pronounced dead at Southside Hospital. A woman who answered the door Tuesday at that Bay Shore address said he didn't live there. She said she was a relative but declined to comment.

Fitzpatrick said the second subject, whose identity was being withheld, was later captured by a canine officer several blocks away.

The detective, 42, has been with the Nassau police department for 16 years, a law enforcement source told Newsday. Police have declined to identify the officer, citing policy that calls for withholding the names of victims of crimes. The officer wouldn't comment.

A police spokesman said the only other time this officer had discharged his weapon was in 2007, when he shot a pit bull.

Fitzpatrick said the suspect was arrested on an attempted robbery charge and that the detective received multiple injuries and was treated at a hospital for contusions and internal bleeding.

Earlier in the morning, a 28-year-old New York City police officer was set upon at about 1:25 a.m. by two men who attacked him as he was strapped inside his vehicle near Locustwood Boulevard in Elmont, Nassau police said.

Detectives said the officer was sitting in a late-model sport utility vehicle waiting for a friend when he spotted two males sneaking up from behind his vehicle.

One, later identified as Willie Watkins, 18, of Jamaica, opened the driver's side door, Fleming said, and stuck a knife to the officer's throat - threatening to stab him in the neck.

"The officer struggled with the attacker," Fleming said, "But [the officer] had difficulty gaining any leverage on him, because he was still seat-belted in."

Fleming said the officer, who is assigned to a precinct in Brooklyn, "had no place to escape to," so he drew his service firearm - a .9-mm semi-automatic - and fired one shot, striking Watkins in the shoulder at close range.

"The attacker fell back," Fleming said. "He got up and both of the suspects ran," with Watkins reaching a vehicle that sped off.

Watkins was arrested by Nassau police at an unnamed hospital after authorities began to investigate whether there was a link between his wound and the shooting since Watkins matched the description of the suspect.

Watkins has prior convictions in New York City, police said, declining to elaborate. Watkins' relatives could not be reached for comment.

He has been charged with first-degree attempted robbery and will be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead following his release from the hospital, police said.

Police are still searching for the other suspect in the ambush and the people who helped Watkins reach the hospital.

Fleming said it was also fortunate that neither officer was injured seriously and that both cases, though rare, may serve as a cautionary tale.

"[This] should serve as a warning to the general public how dangerous it could be if they are out there alone at night and should remind them to keep their doors locked and remain aware of their surroundings," Fleming said.

By MATTHEW CHAYES AND SOPHIA CHANG.
Posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009

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