Two 68th Precinct police officers have snagged “Cop of the Month” honors for June after they apprehended five individuals suspected of stealing a popular cell phone from someone in the street whom they had assaulted.
P.O. Salvatore Billigmeier and P.O. Igor Ubavin made the arrests on May 28th, after they received a report of the attack, which occurred near Third Avenue and 80th Street.
“It came over as an assault. A male was walking down the block with his Sidekick when he was surrounded by five males, and he was beaten up and his Sidekick was taken,” recounted Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez, the precinct’s commanding officer, during the June community council meeting, which was held at the station house, 333 65th Street.
The two officers, said Rodriguez, “got a description of the perpetrators. They then began driving around the community in search of them.
“They did locate the perpetrators and locked up all five,” Rodriguez went on. “All five were 18 or younger. It’s a trend that’s going on, and something we have to stop.”
Indeed, noted Rodriguez, “We find out when these kids are locked up, this is not the second or third time they did it.” By their top notch police work, stressed Rodriguez, Billigmeier and Ubavin, “Surely stopped several other robberies from happening in this community.”
