NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A person of interest wanted in connection with the robberies of two off-duty NYPD officers that left one with a fractured skull and brain bleed and may be linked to at least 19 other robberies is in custody, sources told 1010 WINS Friday.
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The latest brutal assault took place on Tuesday shortly before 11 a.m. on Olmstead Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx while the off-duty police officer was out for a jog.
Three men pulled up in a Honda sedan, approached the 48-year-old and beat him in the head repeatedly before stealing his wallet, phone and keys, police said. The trio then drove off.
The injured cop was found lying on the sidewalk and bleeding from his left ear. He was unable to stand or speak. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
The officer, identified by NBC New York as Muhammed Chowdhury, was initially in a medically induced coma at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi with injuries that included a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
His family told the outlet Wednesday that he is making progress at the hospital, and is now able to open his eyes, talk and identify himself.
"He's in better shape, I should say. Thank glad he’s in better shape. Who knows what happens next. He was brutally attacked. His head is totally injured," Mohammed Ali, a friend of the injured officer, told the station. "He’s a very good man, unfortunately what happens was disgusting. We can’t tolerate this."
Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said in a statement on Thursday that "while we pray at our injured brother's bedside tonight, police officers across this city are searching for the cowards who did this to him. Make no mistake: we will find them."
Police released video on Thursday of a second off-duty NYPD officer who was robbed in Inwood last Friday by what appeared to be the same men. It shows them fleeing in a vehicle after that robbery and stealing a man's vehicle at gunpoint just blocks away.
The 26-year-old cop and two of his cousins, ages 32 and 35, were leaving El Jefe Sports Cantina on Dyckman Street around 2:15 a.m. when they were targeted by then men armed with guns.
The gunmen hopped out of a silver SUV, pistol-whipped the 32-year-old before stealing jewelry from one of the cousins and a cellphone and wallet from the cop, police said.
The trio then fled in the SUV. The victims refused medical attention at the scene.
Less than two hours later around 4 a.m., a 44-year-old man was standing by his SUV on W. 203rd Street, near 10th Avenue, in Inwood when the three men drove up in the silver SUV, whipped out guns and stole his car keys, cellphone and wallet. They then drove off in the victim’s SUV, a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLS 450. The victim was not injured.
The NYPD confirmed Thursday that detectives are investigating a possible link between the two Inwood robberies and a robbery crew that has been terrorizing the Bronx and Queens in recent weeks.
Sources said Friday that there has not been an arrest yet, but the person is being interviewed and the process is moving forward.
The person has not yet been identified by police.
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