Sixty-Third Precinct Cops of the Month Foiled Grinch Who Tried to Steal Christmas

Two midnight patrol officers who made a timely arrest before Christmas received the final 63rd Precinct Community Council Cop of the Month awards for 2022 at the January 25th Council meeting held in the John Malone Center at 2335 Bergen Avenue.

Commanding Officer Captain Rachael Kosak said that Midnight Platoon Commander Lieutenant Mena Kilada and Police Officer Enis Madhi were patrolling the Bergen Beach area around 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve when they spotted someone removing tires and rims from a vehicle.

“That is unheard of, not only good timing, but it shows that these officers are out there, actively patrolling, actively engaging, looking for these individuals that are truly causing these big problems that affect everyone,” Kosak said. “Imagine coming out in the morning and finding your tires gone, your rims gone on Christmas Eve morning – this was one of those truly rare arrests that we were able to make.”

The officers also received citations from Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse and praise from Council President Greg Borruso, who would like to see the officers receive wooden plaques instead of paper certificates.

“For the last two years, besides COVID and the way that the world is changing, it has become very difficult to be a police officer and we’re very grateful,” he said. He vowed to talk to elected officials about getting funds to purchase the plaques.

Kosak mentioned that the father of one of the officers has plans to make a Cop of the Month Wall that will hold framed photos of awardees as another way to honor them.

She reported that Marine Park had a number of car break-ins as well as unlocked cars that got ransacked. Brooklyn had an uptick in robberies in the early fall, but arrests were made and those numbers have improved. Another citywide problem is retail thefts, which affected Kings Plaza and local pharmacies here. And over 200 vehicles were towed via complaints to 311 or directly to Neighborhood Coordination Officers.

“One of the other things we’ve started implementing is working on some of the bars out there that may be problematic because of too much noise, underage drinking and fighting,” Kosak said.

Alex Gurevich from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office stated that, as compared to 2020 when numbers started to rise, there has been a 31% decrease in shootings and a 21% decrease in homicides in the borough.

He gave an update about the shooting at Kings Plaza Mall a year ago by 20-year-old Timothy Briggs, who pled guilty to an attempted murder charge and possession of a weapon. Briggs was sentenced about a week ago to nine years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. “Those are the results that we seek,” Gurevich said.

He also had news about the Breukelen Houses and the Safer Communities Act. One of the first prosecutions under the new act will be, with credit to the NYPD, four individuals, two from Virginia and two from Brooklyn, that were peddling guns and drugs. They have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to sell up to 50 firearms. They will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“Breukelen is technically the 69th Precinct, not the 63rd, but it’s something happening right here and a significant thing to mention,” Gurevich said.