Police officials said Tuesday that a 38-year-old man from New York City was arrested at a Rockland County Days Inn.
He had allegedly fled there with his girlfriend and five young children after a botched robbery in Brooklyn on Saturday night, which left a 26-year-old off-duty NYPD officer and father fighting for his life.
Tuesday, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said that Randy Jones had been arrested and that Adeed Fayaz was still in a very bad way.
Jones was put in handcuffs by a US Marshals Regional Task Force detective from the NYPD, officials said, and Fayaz was taken into custody using his own handcuffs, they added.
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said –
“We wanted him to know what he did to that officer and that officer’s cuffs were on him.”
“I think it sends a powerful message.”
Essig said that Jones was sent to Brooklyn on Monday night and could be charged in Fayaz’s case as early as Tuesday afternoon. Investigators say that once he was caught, he asked for a lawyer. Fayaz, on the other hand, is likely to be moved to another hospital later on Tuesday.
Essig said that the officer, who was married and had two kids, had made plans on Facebook Marketplace to buy a Honda Pilot in Brooklyn for $24,000.
Previous incidents involving shootings that we have covered and posted can be viewed here:
- State Police Look Into An Officer-involved Shooting In Jennings County.
- 2 Arrested In Central California Shooting That Killed 6, Including Mother Holding 10-month-old Son.
He was going to go with his brother-in-law to the sale point on Friday night, but that got moved to Saturday. They went in two cars and rode together in the brother-in-car law’s to Ruby Street by McDonald’s.
Essig said that a man in a black jacket with a mustache and beard walked them to a driveway and jokingly asked if either of them had a gun. When they both said no, Essig said Jones put Fayaz in a headlock, demanded $24,000, and pointed the gun at Fayaz’s brother-in-law when Fayaz said he didn’t have it.
Essig said that Fayaz was able to get out of the headlock, and then the gun went off. Jones is said to have kept shooting at the brothers while he ran away.
The brother-in-law took Fayaz’s gun out of its holster and fired at least six times. Essig said that Jones got into an SUV and drove away. During the chaos, Fayaz had been hurt.
The SUV of the brother-in-sister-in-law law’s had a dashcam that recorded video. This helped police find the getaway SUV and track down the driver.
Essig said that the same man got out of the black car when it pulled into a Department of Sanitation lot on Park Avenue at 8:10 p.m. Saturday, after the shooting.
Later, a woman and five children were seen getting into another car with him. Investigators followed that car to the Days Inn in Nanuet, where Jones was arrested.
The girlfriend was questioned, but it doesn’t look like she will be charged. She was given the five children in the room, whose ages ranged from 6 months to 11 years. Jones is the subject of a search warrant, so charges are being prepared against him, Essig said.
There are no further details offered. The case that happened on Saturday is also being looked into to see if it fits into a pattern.
Mayor Eric Adams said that the officer has been working for five years and is on patrol. He is married and has two children, he said.
The mayor said –
“Too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things.”
“I spoke with the officer’s wife, saw his beautiful children. We’re all lifting his family up in prayer. We will catch the person responsible for this.”
