April 18, 2011 Off-duty New York police officer shot stopping robbery www.privateofficer.com
New York City NY April 18 2011 A heroic off-duty cop was shot after he foiled the robbery of a Brooklyn car repair shop Saturday night when he got into a wild shootout with the bandits, cops said.
Anthony Pressly, a Bridge and Tunnel cop, was waiting for his car to be fixed inside ARJ Auto Repair on Albany Ave. when four thugs suddenly burst in the garage and announced a robbery, sources said.
Pressly, who was armed, grabbed his handgun to stop the pack of thieves – sparking a gun battle that sent bullets flying inside the Bedford-Stuyvesant shop, sources said.
“I heard about five, six shots,” said Kareem William, 25, who works next door at A-Plus Car, Stereo and Alarm about the 8:30 p.m. gunplay.
“When I opened the door, I seen three guys running from his shop and I seen one on the floor. He was not moving at all.”
Pressly, a 10-year veteran who’s assigned to the Battery Tunnel, was hit in the shoulder, sources said.
Two of the robbers were also hit. One was nabbed inside the shop and another managed to limp away from the scene and stumbled into Interfaith Medical Center across the street, sources said.
“When the guy on the ground was picked up, there was a lot of blood,” said Ennis Johnson, who works as a security guard on the block.
The other two crooks jumped into a gray Ford Windstar minivan and fled, sources said. Cops were still searching for the vehicle last night.
Emergency workers took Pressly by ambulance to Kings County Hospital. He was in surgery last night and expected to make a full recovery.
“He’s definitely going to be okay,” a source said. “He’s lucky – he was up against a lot of guys with weapons.”
The wounded man at Interfaith was revived twice and in critical condition, sources said.
The other injured man was taken to Kings County Hospital in critical condition, but expected to survive.
The ages and identities of the two men were unknown.
William said he believes the robbers had targeted his store but got spooked and walked out.
“They were going to do it to us first,” the electrical technician said.
“Two guys came into our store and started asking questions,” he said. “We already thought something was up.”
He said the men left when they saw too many customers inside the store.
Moments later, the gunfire erupted next door.
“It could have been me or any one of my co-workers,” William said. “It’s a scary situation.”
Police continued to search the scene for evidence hours later as detectives questioned witnesses inside the 79th Precinct stationhouse.
“It’s crazy,” said Abdo Aldhafari, who owns a deli on the corner. “I’m very sad because this happened in the neighborhood.
Source:Daily News
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