Cop plays key role in 2 gun busts

NYPD Capt. Ray Jenkins knows a cop is never truly off duty. He also knows lightning can strike twice. In 2005, as a rookie, he and a fellow cop were on their way to work when they thwarted an armed robbery at a Brooklyn gas station. The teen gunman was threatening to shoot Jenkins, then 22, but the cop was able to convince the suspect to drop his gun.

At the time his actions earned him and Officer Jermaine Webb a Daily News “Hero of the Month” honor.

In July, Jenkins answered a similar call. He had just left his home in Queens and was on his way to the gym when he got information about a man who was nearby with a gun. Jenkins quickly jumped into action to help other cops bust the gunman before he made good on a threat to commit an armed robbery.

For that, Jenkins is once again The News’ “Hero of the Month” — the newspaper’s first two-time recipient.

“I feel great,” Jenkins said. “I live in the neighborhood and that could have been anything. There’s no name on a bullet, so when shots start getting fired it could be an officer who gets hurt. It could be a child. It could be a grandmother.”

Jenkins, a newly promoted captain assigned to the detective bureau in Queens, got home from work the afternoon of July 17, then headed out to meet a buddy for an early evening workout.

Nearby, a man was talking to a friend about how he desperately needed money and was considering robbing dealers at a local drug spot. The friend, a moving business employee, called his boss, who also knows Jenkins.

With that information and a location — Merrick and Farmers Blvds. in southeast Queens, about a block away from where Jenkins was at the time — the captain drove over. He saw three men talking. One was the tipster. Another man had what appeared to be a gun tucked in the pocket of his shorts. Taking action while off duty is never easy. But when Jenkins busted the would-be robber in 2005 he had little choice other than to jump into the fray because the gas station attendant was being pistol-whipped as he and Webb drove by.

In July he knew he had no more than a few minutes to act — but he worried a quick approach would put him in danger. He was dressed to work out, without vital equipment: his uniform, patrol car, radio and bullet-resistant vest.

“Off-duty arrests are dangerous because you’re not at a tactical advantage,” Jenkins said. “And depending on where you’re at, the other officers responding may not know you. It can go bad if it’s not properly thought out. The desperation this guy had, the urgency, I knew that engaging him right now, there’d probably be an exchange of gunfire.

“I’m thinking about the most safe and sound way to approach him, which at the time I felt would be a surprise stop by uniform.”

With that in mind, Jenkins called the front desk at the 113th Precinct stationhouse. The commanding officer, Inspector Frederick Grover, picked up the phone. Jenkins identified himself, explained what was going on and waited for help.

Grover then grabbed his cell phone, called patrol supervisor Sgt. Justin Dambinskas and headed out the door with another sergeant.

Meanwhile the suspect, the tipster and the other man were on the move, heading west on Merrick. To avoid being seen, Jenkins, who was by now on the phone with Dambinskas, inched his BMW up the block whenever the trio got closer.

After three or four minutes, Dambinskas and Officer Thomas Considine arrived, followed by Grover and backups.

Jenkins, still on his cell phone, identified the gunman for Dambinskas and watched as the cops, all in uniform, jumped out of their cars and rushed the suspect, Nelson Comrie, who put up a brief struggle.

“He knew what he had on him,” Jenkins said, referring to the gun. “But they were up on him quickly. They were on him so fast he wasn’t able to do anything.”

Grover said Jenkins’ information gave him and other precinct officers exactly what they needed. He provided a precise account of a situation that could have been dangerous: a desperate man with a gun.

“In a situation like that we want the most detailed information we can get,” Grover said. “We don’t want to leave any room where someone can get injured.”

Comrie, 35, is no stranger to guns. When he was arrested, police learned he was wanted in North Carolina on a probation warrant. Authorities there said that in 2014 Comrie was arrested for firing a gun at an apartment complex in Concord.

In 2006 in Queens, where he was living at the time, Comrie was arrested by a police officer who saw him trying to conceal an object in his pants. When the cop patted Comrie down he found a loaded Beretta handgun in his waistband, according to records.

He pleaded guilty and served two years behind bars.

Jenkins, 35, is engaged to a city correction officer and has three children, including a teen daughter mulling a career in law enforcement.

Looking back, despite the inherent dangers of taking police action while off duty, he said he has no plans to change his ways — or his exercise habits.

“Otherwise,” said Jenkins, who eventually did make it to the gym that night, “I don’t feel like I’m an asset.”

rparascandola@nydailynews.com