A 38-year-old New York City man was arrested at a Rockland County Days Inn after allegedly fleeing there with his girlfriend and five young children following Saturday night's botched robbery in Brooklyn that left a 26-year-old off-duty NYPD officer and father fighting for his life, police officials said Tuesday.
Adeed Fayaz remained in grave condition Tuesday, a solemn NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said as she announced the arrest of Randy Jones. Jones was handcuffed by an NYPD detective assigned to the US Marshals Regional Task Force, officials said -- and it was Fayaz's own cuffs that brought him into police custody, they added.
"We wanted him to know what he did to that officer and that officer's cuffs were on him," NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. "I think it sends a powerful message."
Essig said Jones was extradited to Brooklyn Monday night and is expected to face charges in Fayaz's case as early as Tuesday afternoon. He asked for a lawyer once he was apprehended, investigators said.
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Fayaz, meanwhile, is expected to be transferred to another hospital later Tuesday.
According to Essig, the officer, a married father of two, had arranged to buy a Honda Pilot in Brooklyn for $24,000 on Facebook Marketplace. He initially planned to go to the sale point with his brother-in-law Friday night but that got pushed to Saturday. They went in two vehicles and rode together in the brother-in-law's to Ruby Street by McDonald's.
The pair were met by a man in a black jacket with a beard and mustache who walked them to a driveway and jokingly asked if either was carrying a gun, Essig said. They both said no, at which point Essig said Jones put Fayaz in a headlock, demanded the $24,000 and pointed the weapon at the brother-in-law when Fayaz said he didn't have it.
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Fayaz managed to untangle himself from the headlock, Essig said, and the gun went off. Jones allegedly kept firing at the brothers as he ran away. The brother-in-law grabbed Fayaz's weapon from its holster and fired at least six times. Jones got into an SUV and drove off, Essig said. Fayaz had been wounded in the chaos.
Dashcam video from the brother-in-law's SUV helped investigators identify the getaway SUV and track the driver. Around 8:10 p.m. Saturday, after the shooting, the black vehicle pulled into a Department of Sanitation lot on Park Avenue and the same man got out, Essig said. He was later seen getting into another vehicle with a woman and five children. That was the vehicle investigators tracked to the Days Inn in Nanuet, where Jones was arrested.
The girlfriend was questioned but is not expected to be charged in the case. The five children in the room, who range in age from 6 months to 11 years, were released to her. Charges are pending against Jones, who is the target of an ongoing search warrant, Essig said.
No other details were provided.
Investigators are also looking into whether Saturday's case may be part of a pattern.
Mayor Eric Adams said the officer, a five-year veteran assigned to patrol, is married with two children.
"Too many illegal guns are in the hands of bad people and doing bad things," the mayor said. "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."
