BY MICHAEL OSSORGUINE | P.S. 41 had a scare on Mon., June 13, after word spread through the school of a “gunman on the loose” nearby on Greenwich Ave.
What school administrators didn’t know was that the man with a gun was an off-duty police officer who had drawn his weapon against a group of bicycling deliverymen.
The cyclists were led by Dejaune Jones, 21, who was arrested on charges of weapon possession, criminal mischief, menacing and harassment after on-duty police arrived at the scene.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the off-duty cop brandished his firearm — whether he was incensed by Jones “smacking” his side-view mirror as he rode by or he feared Jones had a weapon of his own.
Jones and his friends contend that the officer was cutting them off in a bike lane, and that the officer never showed his badge. (Greenwich Ave., though, does not have a bike lane, while W. 10th St. does.)
“I was in fear for my life when his silver Honda darted out in front of me like that,” Jones said, adding he quickly pushed in the motorist’s mirror to squeeze by. “He then got out of his car, and walked toward me with his hand in his pocket. I went to pull out my cell phone when I walked back to his car. As I was doing that, one of my tools fell out for my bike, and I went to pick it up, and then he pulls out a revolver and points it directly in my face telling me to ‘Get down and drop what was in my hands.’ ”
A video of the incident taken by Jones’s friends shows the bicyclists angrily shouting at the officer, “Put that away! Put that away! You’re on camera!” Jones can be seen advancing on the cop, though an alleged “8-inch ice pick” was neither seen on the clip nor later found. No weapon other than the officer’s gun was seen in the video. No shots were fired.
Jones said what fell out of pocket was an Allen wrench — a small tool that is not a dangerous weapon. He admits when he approached the cop his “adrenaline” was pumping since he had feared almost getting into an accident, plus there have been a couple of recent cyclist deaths.
Meanwhile, the scene inside P.S. 41 was panic, as the altercation was witnessed during dismissal. One day after the devastating massacre in Orlando, any news of a gunman was enough to alarm school leaders, leading to a “shelter-in.”
“The kids were sent into the auditorium and locked in there,” said an angry school parent who identified himself as a “physician in the area.” “Parents were hysterical. My babysitter said it best, ‘People could have trampled one another.’ ”
Asked for comment, a Department of Education spokesperson did not fault the school’s handling of the situation.
“The safety and security of students and staff is our top priority,” Toya Holness, deputy press secretary for D.O.E., said. “All the students are safe.”
The officer who pulled the pistol, Sergeant Gregory Abbott, was named the Sixth Precinct’s Cop of the Year in 2011 by the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce for his work leading the precinct’s narcotics unit. In this most recent situation, however, some say he was definitely overzealous.
“I cannot fathom how it would be an appropriate response to draw your gun,” said Heather Campbell, a P.S. 41 parent.
Abbott was not charged or punished for the incident, to the chagrin of some school parents and the accused bicyclist. Jones was released from the Greenwich Village precinct with a desk appearance ticket. The case is currently under police investigation.
In addition, a P.S. 41 parent lodged a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board against Abbottt, feeling he was too quick to pull his weapon.
According to Eyewitness News, the cyclists were working as deliverymen for a caviar shop. Jones said the group was on their 3 p.m. lunch break, and were on their way to Mighty Quinn’s BBQ to celebrate one of their friends getting a job offer.
