Bronx, NY – A veteran highway cop was suspended Saturday after his NYPD patrol vehicle with a loaded shotgun inside was stolen by a loony Bronx crook, police said. [reported last night by VIN News here]
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Nelson Robles, 42, ducked into Lydig Coffee Shop in Morris Park for breakfast at 7 a.m. when in a flash his marked Chevy Tahoe was gone, police sources said.
“This is the embarrassing part – he goes into a coffee shop and leaves the vehicle running,” a police source said.
Anibal Lugo, a local resident with mental problems, hopped into the idle jeep and peeled off, police said.
He drove over the Whitestone Bridge, all the way to LaGuardia Airport before leaving the vehicle running in a parking lot.
An alert Port Authority cop spotted the marked patrol car, secured it and later arrested Lugo at a car rental counter in the US Airways terminal.
The shotgun was untouched, but Lugo, wearing rubber gloves, had lifted the cops’ handcuffs, clipboard and paperwork.
Lugo – who has prior arrests dating back to 1990 – was charged with criminal possession of stolen property, grand larceny and impersonating a police officer.
Lugo told cops he meant no harm. “He just wanted to go for a ride,” a police source at the scene said.
Robles, who’s been on the job since 1995, was suspended without pay.
But George Pampafikos, the coffee shop’s co-owner, said Robles couldn’t have been in the restaurant for more than two minutes.
“By the time he was in here, the car was gone,” Pampafikos said.
Lugo was taken to the 49th Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx.
NYCbuff if you were right last night, why was he suspended?? Isn’t this ridicules?!?!
He is gona be back on the job in no time. He did nothing wrong. -k-
No person (ordinary guy or police etc.) should leave his car unlocked and running while unattended. Let this be a lesson to all.
Who cares how long he was in the shop for, one should never leave any car running and unattended for even a second!
2 minutes is way too long in this sensitive times, what if a terrorist got there?
As I said in the other thread the cop should be fired & jailed & the robber given a medal.
No matter how long a cop is paid to do a job, & in that time he has no right to buy donuts or take a nap, because he has a badge he isn’t above the law.
There is a $250.00 fine for ideling a car with it’s engine on in NY, a kid could drive it off & it could cost lives. He also left a loaded gun in the car unguarded.Boruch Hashem he was caught of guard.
It is time for cops to realize they don’t write the law as it fits them, give tickets to nebachs to show they are doing something.
They should have cops over the cops from another organization, you will only need half the cops IMHO.
I hope he never gets his jib back & pays fines & spends some time in the slammer.
Cops protect themsleves,
go around wiht a video camera and recorod how many moving vilations NYPD cops do.
Record how many times they park their cars, illegaly, and at times dangerously so when they go out to eat,
Cops give themsleves get out of jail cards to do what they want.
They have their own laws. Unless someone gets hurt and the cop misdeed gets publicized they go free.
I have cousins who are cops.When the stop other cops fro moving violations they let them go.the exception for my cousin is, if the cop is sitnking drunk and reallyhas lost coordiantion badly , Then he will make th eother cop park his car.Call for a relative or another cop to come pick the drunk up and tak ehim home, A ticket naw that would be unethical.
This is midah kneged midah. For all those times he wrote out speeding tickets, mercilessly, despite passionate pleas from motorists “i was only speeding for a minute!” – – “i just had to go to the bathroom so badly!”
Now the tables have turned..”i just went in for a minute to grab a coffe!”….Sorry – tell it to the judge.
i do leave my car running an unattended , but not unlocked because i care on my property, but what do they care for…
I personally know this officer for 15+ years and he is truly one of New York’s Finest. He is as honest a man as I have ever known. I say this as a defense attorney in Traffic Court. That some of you should wish him such a terrible fate hardly goes along with my concept of Judaism. He may have made a mistake; for this you would jail him or take away his livelihood? Officer Robles would risk his life to protect you and probably has over the years. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
I believe the shotgun is locked mount. If he left the key to the shotgun on the ring in the ignition of his car he should be tried for public endangerment. I do not wish him ill personally. But I believe we are all covered by the same laws and I have no doubt had a citizen done something similar he would have been tried.