Police say that an off-duty police officer fatally shot a man who was trying to mug him at Broadway and Grove Street in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. According to WABC 7, two men approached the cop: "One of the men simulated holding a gun while the other knocked the victim down to the ground with a cane. The detective opened fire on the muggers, hitting the cane-wielding suspect once in the chest." more ›

Rafael Casiano, the off-duty housing officer who crashed his car last week, seriously injuring his partner, and then blew a (legal) .032 on a breathalyzer test nine hours later, has been forced by a judge to hand over his driver's license. more ›

Yesterday, it was reported that an off-duty police officer hit a divider on the Bronx River Parkway, overturning the vehicle that held him and his partner. Though police officers at the scene determined that Office Rafael Casiano had been drinking—he admitted he "had a few drinks"—he was not given a Breathalyzer until nine hours later. Now the NYPD says Internal Affairs is investigating that delay. more ›

Newark police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office say that an off-duty Newark police officer shot a man who was trying to carjack him. The cop had been sitting in his car (wearing street clothes) near 17 Avenue A when two men approached him, demanding his car while brandishing a gun. more ›

NYPD's Internal Affairs department, which hasn't been as active as some would like of late, is currently investigating a very strange case on the Upper West Side. Officer Benjamin Ambrosio, 28, claims that he was attacked twice while off-duty in two months in the same area near Riverside Park. Now, DNAinfo reports, Ambrosio has been put on modified duty and stripped of his gun and badge while Internal Affairs tries to figure out what in the world is going on. Getting your gun stolen by a man slashing tires is not an easy thing to do! more ›

Late last night, an off-duty cop was jumped at 91st Street and Riverside Park. He fired at the suspect, who got away and managed to take the cops gun! more ›

A teenage member of the Very Crispy Gangsters has been charged with the shooting of an off-duty cop earlier this week. Eric Greenidge, 18, is accused of firing several shots at rival gang members in a McDonalds parking lot in East New York Monday; officer Dawn Foster was hit in the crossfire, but survived. But officers are angry that Greenidge has been given bail: “In the annals of lousy calls, this one is particularly bad and it needs to be rectified before this thug hurts or kills anyone else,” said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. more ›

Early this morning, a brawl led to gunfire at Kensington bar Old Gallery on McDonald Avenue—and apparently an off-duty cop was one of the people who fired. A witness told NY1, "I heard like three bullets. And in my mind I was like, that's firecrackers. Then I thought, no it's gunshots. Then I looked out the window, and I just see a bunch of people running from the bar, and I heard like maybe six more shots and there's a police car outside." One of the bar patrons summed it up neatly to the Daily News: "People got drunk and they start fighting. It goes outside and then [the shooting] happened so fast." more ›

Two off-duty cops have been charged with drunk driving after two separate wrecks just 26 hours apart. On Wednesday night around 6:30 p.m., Officer Christine Mazarakes crashed her car on the Upper West Side on the corner of W. 81st Street and West End Avenue. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident. The Daily News reports that officers responding to the scene observed that Mazarakes was intoxicated, and she's been charged with DWI, but details are sketchy—the News doesn't say if she agreed to a breath test, which other allegedly drunk cops have successfully avoided in the past. A day later in Brooklyn, another cop followed in Mazarakes's sodden skid marks. more ›

[Update below] Details are starting to emerge about yesterday's off-duty cop shooting in the Bronx. Though the officer in question has not been identified, we now know that the 43-year-old detective, a fifteen-year member of the force, had celebrated his son's first birthday before the incident. After the celebration, the cop, his girlfriend and friends went to the Pelham Bay Diner for an late-night snack. And that's where he was shot with a bullet that pierced both of his buttocks. more ›

Around 5 a.m., an off-duty cop was shot in the back in the Bronx, outside of the Pelham Bay Diner. According to WABC 7, "The off-duty officer was reportedly involved in a fight in the parking lot. It's not clear if he was trying to break up a fight or if he was an active participant in the altercation." more ›

Too easy: According to the Daily News, "An off-duty NYPD cop was busted for drunken driving Thursday after officers saw him park near a Queens Dunkin' Donuts and stagger as he stepped out of his car, cops said. Luis Moncayo, 27, was suspended from the force after he was collared for driving while intoxicated. He refused a Breathalyzer test, cops said." more ›

NYPD officer Leopold McLean, who had long worked on security detail for Mayor Bloomberg, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting his girlfriend's ex-lover and then trying to cover it up. McLean's girlfriend called him over after her ex boyfriend LePaul Gammons, whom she had a restraining order against, said he was coming over. McLean says he only shot Gammons in self defense, but a new story has emerged. more ›

It was just a normal Saturday for Officer Feris Jones, who was off duty from working in a crime lab in an NYPD office in Jamaica and getting her hair done in a Bed-Stuy salon. That is, until an armed thug burst into the salon and demanded money. Jones confronted the man, identifying herself as a cop and asking him to drop his weapon. Instead, he began firing shots around the salon, so Jones was forced to return fire. more ›

The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating an incident involving an allegedly pistol-flashing off-duty cop and a pissed-off cyclist on Bleecker Street Saturday night. Bike rider Ryan Stepka, 36, was pedaling home around 11:30 p.m. when a driver in a Volkswagen with heavily tinted windows almost sideswiped him. Stepka says he banged on the window to alert the driver to his presence, but the car continued to force him to the curb as they approached a stoplight. "That’s when I got off my bike and approached the window to talk to the guy," Stepka tells the Post. And when the window rolled down, shit got real: more ›

A seemingly unprovoked fight broke out at a Staten Island mosque yesterday morning, resulting in off-duty NYPD officer Lt. Sherif Nassef getting socked in the nose. Sherif and his father, Nabil, had just knelt to begin prayer at the Noor Al-Islam Center when another worshiper began pushing Nabil from behind. Sherif intervened, saying, "Why are you pushing my father? Calm down." The worshiper then turned his fists on Sherif. more ›

The Daily News reports that off-duty police officer Juan Burgos was "arrested just before 8:30 p.m. Friday, cops said. A police spokesman said the cop was collared near his home in the 45th Precinct. The seven-year veteran, assigned to the 43rd Precinct in Soundview, was charged with driving while intoxicated." There have been a number of incidents of allegedly drunk driving cops, from the incident in May where two off-duty cops died to others where civilians are injured or killed (sometimes the off-duty cops dodge blood tests). more ›

It's been nearly four weeks since an off-duty cop with a BAC of 0.16 smashed his car on the Bronx River Parkway, killing himself and another cop and injuring four passengers, and the victims have yet to hear anything from the cops. The Daily News talked to the victims and their families, and claims the "plight of the injured women has all but been ignored." more ›

As immigrant Emzo Yildiz recovers from the two black eyes given to him by off-duty officer Anthony Egan, more details are coming out about the fight that left Yildiz charged with felony assault—though he says he never threw a punch. Egan says Yildiz charged him during a traffic jam as the two were merging on Targee Street in Staten Island, and that he only punched Yildiz in self defense after he said he was a cop. But Yildiz claims Egan never identified himself, and that "The guy's using the f-word and then he showed me the finger, doing the whole thing, jumping and yelling and going crazy." WABC asks, "Is the officer getting preferential treatment?" Now what would give them that idea? more ›

Imze (Emzo) Yildiz, a Turkish immigrant who became a citizen just three weeks ago, is charged with felony assault after a Staten Island road rage incident with an off-duty cop left him with two black eyes and nine stitches above his eyebrow. But the cop, Officer Anthony Egan, was reportedly whisked away from the scene Tuesday morning with no charges or injuries, even though Emzo and at least one witness say Egan was the only one who threw punches. Welcome to America, Emzo! more ›

After hearing gunshots, an off-duty NYPD officer tried to chase down a group of men involved in the East Harlem shooting—leading to another barrage of bullets that left one man injured. When the cop started trailing a group of men reportedly involved in a shooting near Lexington Avenue and 103rd Street last night at around 10 p.m., there was a second exchange of gunfire and a man was hit in the leg, the Daily News reports. It's unclear if the off-duty officer fired any shots. more ›

In the early morning hours, an off-duty police officer crashed his car into the midtown location of Tiffany, at Fifth Avenue and West 57th Street. WABC 7 reports, "The driver of this car flipped over, snapped a tree in half, and crushed a trash can before coming to a stop on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk," adding, "Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened." WCBS 2 offers, "The vehicle ended up on its side after colliding with a private sanitation truck on 5th Avenue." Update: Now it's suspected that the off-duty cop was...driving while intoxicated. more ›

According to the Post, the family of a 66-year-old Bronx woman fatally struck by an off-duty detective—who was charged with DWI—intends to sue the NYPD and feds for $20 million. The Post reports, "Dusta Juncaj, 66, was struck by off-duty Detective Kevin Spellman as she crossed Kingsbridge Avenue on Oct. 30. Spellman, a veteran detective in a joint NYPD-federal fugitive task force, was driving a Chevrolet leased by the US Marshals Service and had a blood alcohol level of .21 -- more than 2½ times the legal limit -- five hours after the crash, sources said." more ›

An off-duty New York City cop shot a knife-wielding man Thursday night after a bar brawl that started in the Strong Island watering-hole Napper Tandy's and spilled out into the street. John Gomez, 27, was one of the many witnesses in the crowded bar at 12:30 a.m. when two men began fighting in the front foyer. more ›

Early yesterday, an off-duty police officer got into an argument with a group of youths in Washington Heights and ultimately fired at them during the confrontation. According to the Post, it was a "Halloween hoax gone horribly wrong," with the youths "jumping from a large cardboard box in order to spook passers-by"—and one unhappy passer-by was the off-duty cop. more ›

Earlier this morning, around 7 a.m., a woman was struck by a vehicle at West 232nd Street and Kingsbridge Avenue. The woman later died at St. Barnabas Hospital and now an off-duty police officer has been taken into custody. more ›

Police officer Rafael Lora faces up to 15 years in prison after a judge found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter for a 2007 shooting. Lora was off-duty when he confronted a driver who crashed his minivan into other cars on a Bronx Street. Believing that Fermin Arzu was reaching for a gun—and claiming that Arzu hit him and that he was being dragged by the vehicle— Lora shot Arzu, who later died. The cop had opted for a bench trial, instead of a jury trial; his lawyer had said he "acted professionally and was justified on the night in question." more ›

A judge is deliberating the fate of a police officer who, while off-duty, fatally shot a drunk driver outside his home in the Bronx. In May 2007, cop Rafael Lora confronted Fermin Arzu, who had just crashed his minivan into other cars on the street. Believing that Arzu was reaching for a gun—and claiming that Arzu hit him and that he was being dragged by the vehicle— Lora shot Arzu, who later died. Prosecutors say Lora was free when he fired at Arzu. Lora, who opted for a bench trial, does not face jail time because Bronx prosecutors lowered the charges from first-degree manslaughter to second-degree manslaughter, which carries 11 years probation. Lora testified he was so upset that he couldn't even call 911. Arzu's family's lawyer said, "Frankly rather than acting like a heroic officer to render aid, [Lora] acted with a chicken heart." more ›

Newsday reports that the off-duty police officer who killed his wife and then himself had used his service revolver. According to Suffolk police, Francis Cole, an NYPD lieutenant, had first stabbed wife Elena in the chest with a kitchen knife in their Centereach home. Their 18-year-old daughter "tried to intervene during or just after the knife attack," but Cole hit her in the face (Newsday says it's "unclear if the blow was intentional"). He then used his .38-caliber revolver to shot his twice in the head and then turned the gun on himself. Suffolk Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick said the daughter "definitely witnessed the shooting." more ›

An off duty NYPD lieutenant fatally shot and stabbed his wife and then turned his gun on himself yesterday afternoon in their Centereach home. Francis Cole, 48, a 19-year NYPD vet who worked at the 68th Precinct, first stabbed wife Elena, 46, in the chest and then shot her in the head. Their 18-year-old daughter tried to intervene, but Newsday reports, "he struck his daughter in the face." The daughter then called 911; Cole, who shot himself in the head, was conscious when the ambulance arrived but he died at the hospital. Suffolk County police Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick says there was "a general atmosphere of trouble," because the couple were getting divorced. Neighbors were shocked and surprised to hear the couple were divorcing; one told the Post, "There was no sign of anything. Never an argument, nothing. They were the ideal family." more ›