Cops are always on the job, even when they’re biding their time on a city bus.
A cop from the 66th Precinct ensured the safety of his fellow straphangers’ belongings recently when he arrested a pickpocket on an MTA bus as it lumbered down 60th Street in Dyker Heights.
The keen-eyed cop was one of several peacekeepers that the 66th Precinct recently honored for their outstanding work.
As he addressed the 66th Precinct Community Council recently, Deputy Inspector Peter DeBlasio, the precinct’s commanding officer, explained that Police Officer Anthony Carreira, who works for anti-crime and wasn’t wearing a uniform, was taking the B9 bus away from the precinct in order to transfer to a downtown train.
He was minding his own business when he saw one of the passengers trying to pick another’s pocket.
Carreira intervened and took the thief into custody.
But he was more than a thief, DeBlasio explained.
After bringing the suspect back to the precinct, it was discovered that the pickpocket was also a known burglar.
“[Carreira] brought him in and the detective squad did the rest,” DeBlasio said, adding that detectives were trying to connect the thief to a handful of burglaries in the area. As of June 28, 168 burglaries had been committed in the precinct since the beginning of the year – exactly the same as the year before.
Carreira received a special “Cop of the Month” certificate for the quick arrest.
Also honored was Police Officer Orazio Boccadifuoco, another anti-crime cop, who was quick to arrest a thief who had mugged over a half-dozen women in March.
Back on March 13, Boccadifuoco and members of his team were already searching for the thief when he struck on Fort Hamilton Parkway.
The thief would have gotten away if not for two Good Samaritan skaters who intervened as they exited a local skating rink.
The skaters hit the thief with their hockey sticks and thwarted the robbery.
Yet they didn’t stop the thief, who ran to an awaiting car and sped off.
The two were able to at least give a description of the car, which Boccadifuoco spotted during an area search.
Boccadifuoco managed to pull the car over and arrest the suspect, who is now in jail facing multiple counts of robbery, DeBlasio said.
Also honored were several members of the Borough Park Shomrim Patrol who helped police arrest a flasher exposing himself to young women.
The flasher, De Blasio said, had the misfortune of conducting his business on one of the Shomrim volunteer’s blocks.
After locating the flasher, the volunteer called his patrol, which helped facilitate the citizen’s arrest.
DeBlasio said that the good work of his officers, as well as his Shomrim eyes and ears, have helped the precinct see a 1.4 percent drop in crime this year.
“They have all done excellent work and are keeping the community safe,” he said.
