Struggling to subdue a crazed suspect, an NYPD cop broke a cardinal rule of law enforcement and handed his gun to a Manhattan janitor, telling his stunned new deputy, “I need some help here,” The Post has learned.
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Even though his idea of backup usually involves clogged drains, Placido Contreras, 51, said he took hold of the weapon and pointed it at the floor after the cop told him, “Keep your eyes on him and shoot him if you have to.”
It was unclear why the officer didn’t simply wait for police backup.
Surveillance video from the Midtown building clearly shows the cop handing Contreras his weapon.
“I was shocked,” the janitor later said. “Because that’s the first time I held a real gun.”
The NYPD later acknowledged the unorthodox handoff. Police said the officer needed a free hand to finish cuffing Jeffrey McNair, 42, who yesterday morning led cops on a 20-block car chase in which he ran over one pedestrian twice.
The officer, whom police refused to identify, had switched the weapon to his weaker hand and couldn’t get it back into the holster while he got the cuffs on McNair.
“He handed him the gun very briefly while he got the second cuff on,” a police source said. “[The suspect is] a dangerous felon, and he was trying to handcuff him.”
Police deny there was any dialogue between the officer and Contreras.
The NYPD patrol guide says officers should “safeguard weapons at all times.”
Still, the department praised his actions.
“The officer did a remarkable job in locating and apprehending the suspect, adapting as circumstances required,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
The arrest ended a wild, hourlong effort to stop McNair, who has 43 prior arrests for burglary, gun and drug charges.
Police first spotted him driving like a maniac on Eighth Avenue near West 34th Street at 7 a.m.
McNair turned east on 34th in his gray Toyota and wove in and out of oncoming traffic in an effort to elude cops.
Between Second and First avenues, McNair collided with a yellow taxi and lost control, police said. His Toyota jumped the curb and struck a jogger, Samantha Pollinger, 27.
“I heard a loud boom and saw a lady fly up in the air,” said landscaper Jonathan Bittiste, 32. “While she was laying on the sidewalk, he hit her again.”
She was taken to Bellevue Hospital and was in stable condition.
McNair then went north on the FDR Drive but hit an Access-A-Ride van and had to abandon his car at East 51st Street, police said.
He ran across the highway and scaled two razor-sharp fences, nearly impaling himself on the second one. Bleeding profusely, he then tried to climb into an open window at 444 E. 52nd St. but was thwarted by a feisty granny who shoved him out.
McNair climbed back over the fence and went into the basement of 414 E. 52nd St., where he donned Contreras’ janitor jumpsuit.
He then picked up a mop and tried to blend in as police sirens blared in the background.
The real janitor, Contreras, stumbled upon the suspect and ran to find a cop.
According to police, the officer, with his gun drawn, yelled at McNair to “drop the mop.”
That’s when the cop deputized Contreras.
Before McNair could be hauled away, though, Contreras asked the cops to fish his money and jewelry out of his jumpsuit.
“I didn’t want the uniform back at that point,” he said. “It was way too bloody.”
McNair was taken to Bellevue Hospital.
“It’s like a movie script. I’ve never seen something as bizarre as this,” said Joseph Espaillat, the building superintendent at 414 E. 52nd.
Additional reporting by Kevin Fasick and Murray Weiss