A pack of muggers held up an off-duty officer outside a Bronx apartment building early Monday — and as soon as they saw his badge, one said, “He’s a cop, shoot him!” law-enforcement sources said.
Sgt. Esteban Abreu, 32, finished his shift at a housing precinct and had just parked his car when the three men approached him at Creston Avenue and East 179th Street in the Mount Hope section at 3:54 a.m., the sources said
One of the thugs pulled a knife and ordered Abreu to hand over his cellphone and wallet.
As the officer emptied his pockets, his police badge and ID card fell to the floor, according to the sources.
That’s when someone gave the order to shoot in Spanish, police said.
One of the robbers pulled out a gun, but Abreu grabbed his own off-duty weapon, a Glock 26 pistol, and fired three times, striking Michael Monserate, 18, once in the back, the sources said.
The cop chased the other two crooks as they fled on Echo Place, but they got away with Abreu’s phone, police sources said.
Monserate was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Abreu, a Bronx housing cop with 10 years on the force, wasn’t injured, but was treated for tinnitus at Jacobi Medical Center.
Police found two knives at the scene, sources said.
The suspects who fled were described as Hispanic men, both in their 20s, police said. One was armed with a gun and the other had a knife, police said.
One neighborhood resident recalled waking up to the sound of gunfire.
“I heard gunshots and I heard somebody saying, “Call the police! Please! I’m a police officer!’ ” said Doris Green, 57.
“It was scary because I didn’t want to look out the window and see something had happened,” she added. “I couldn’t live with that.”
Another resident who lives across the street from the shooting scene said he saw the robbers approach the cop, then heard three gunshots.
“The guy he shot was screaming,” said the man, who gave only his first name, Ricky, 44. “I wasn’t shocked. I’m used to seeing stuff like that around here. I didn’t expect it right outside my door, though.”
Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory