NEW YORK — A 38-year-old man was arrested at a Rockland County Days Inn after he allegedly fled there with his girlfriend and five young children after a botched robbery left an off-duty police officer at the hospital Saturday in overnight in Brooklyn, authorities confirmed Tuesday.
Adeed Fayaz, a 26-year-old married father, was still in serious condition Tuesday, New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said solemnly as she announced the arrest of Randy Jones. Jones was handcuffed by an NYPD detective assigned to the US Marshals Regional Task Force, authorities said, and Fayaz’s handcuffs were used to place him in police custody, they added.
“We wanted him to know what he did to that officer and that he had handcuffs on,” said New York Police Chief of Detectives James Essig. “I think he sends a powerful message.”
Essig said Jones was extradited to Brooklyn late Monday and is expected to face charges in the Fayaz case Tuesday afternoon. He asked for a lawyer once he was taken into custody, investigators said.
Meanwhile, Fayaz is expected to be transferred to another hospital later on Tuesday.
According to Essig, the officer, a married father of two, had arranged to purchase a Honda Pilot in Brooklyn for $24,000 in Facebook Marketplace. He initially planned to go to the outlet with his brother-in-law on Friday night, but it was postponed until Saturday. They were in two vehicles and traveled together in the brother-in-law’s to Ruby Street by McDonald’s.
The couple were greeted by a man in a black jacket with a beard and mustache who ushered them into a driveway and jokingly asked if either of them 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 pulled the gun on the brother-in-law when Fayaz said he didn’t have it.
Fayaz managed to disentangle himself from the headlock, Essig said, and the gun went off. Jones allegedly kept shooting at the brothers as he fled. The brother-in-law took Fayaz’s gun out of his holster and fired at least six times. Jones got into a pickup truck and drove away, Essig said. Fayaz was injured in the chaos.
Video from the brother-in-law’s SUV’s dash cam helped investigators identify the getaway SUV and track down the driver. At 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 that 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 her room, ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years, were given to her. Charges are pending against Jones, who is the subject of an ongoing search warrant, Essig said.
No other details were provided.
Authorities are also investigating 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 firearms are in the hands of bad people doing bad things,” the mayor said. “I spoke with the officer’s wife, I saw his beautiful children. We are all lifting up your family in prayer. We will catch the person responsible for this.”
