Two rookie cops yesterday chased down a Queens punk who, after stalking their Police Academy classmate, bashed his skull with a baseball bat and stole his gun and handcuffs, authorities said.
The thug, Danny Fernandez, 21, looked for a cop for more than three hours before he pounced on Officer Joseph Cho at around 1 a.m. on 102nd Street and 39th Avenue in Jackson Heights, sources said.
Fernandez was nabbed moments later by fleet-footed Officer Patrick Lynch, who had spotted the tail end of the cowardly attack from a block away.
Fernandez allegedly told police later that he wanted to use the officer’s gun in a series of robberies to pay off $16,000 in debt.
“He needed money,” a police source said.
Fernandez first spotted Cho about a half-hour before the assault, and stalked the officer, waiting for the right moment to make his move, authorities said.
Finally, he darted out between two parked cars on the frigid, deserted street, jumping up behind the unsuspecting cop and cracking him in the head with the bat, a source said.
Cho fell to the ground. Fernandez, seeing that he still was moving, then bashed him once more in the head, authorities said, knocking him unconscious. Fernandez then bent down to grab Cho’s 9mm Glock service pistol and handcuffs, authorities said.
Lynch spotted Fernandez as the suspect struggled to remove Cho’s gun belt, the sources said.
Unaware that the assault victim was a fellow cop, Lynch ran over and Fernandez fled, according to the sources. As Lynch came up to Cho’s prone body, he realized he was a cop and radioed for help.
Lynch, a long-distance runner while attending college in Vermont, then chased Fernandez several blocks to 37-40 102nd St.
Lynch grabbed Fernandez, who was carrying Cho’s gun and cuffs, cops said. A third rookie, Officer Christine Schmidt, 26, had heard the radio call and assisted in the arrest.
Back at the assault scene, cops found the baseball bat used in the attack, authorities said.
Cho, 32, was taken to Elmhurst Hospital where he was in serious but stable condition with a fractured skull, a concussion and other injuries.
Mayor Bloomberg paid him a visit, as did Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens), who was already at the medical center for an unrelated meeting.
“He was asleep when I was there. He looked sedated,” said Crowley, whose father and grandfather were city cops. “The whole thing is just unbelievably hard to describe, the notion that someone would have the depravity to hit anyone, much less a police officer.
“I think that the full extent of the law needs to be brought to bear on the individual so this won’t be tolerated.”
Cho was also visited by several cops and relatives, some visibly shaken by the incident.
“He’s OK. He’s still stable,” said a sergeant from the 115th Precinct. “That’s all we can hope for.”
Cho, Lynch and Schmidt all graduated from the NYPD Police Academy on Dec. 26, before being assigned to patrol duty in the 115th Precinct.
“He’s only six weeks on the road,” said Lynch’s proud dad, Thomas, himself a former police sergeant in Suffolk County. “He told me he wasn’t looking for glory, he was just doing his job.”
“He’s only 22, but he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s a phenomenal long-distance runner. They say he ran this guy down. That’s not unusual at all.”
Fernandez, a former student at La Guardia Community College who lives in Flushing, was ordered held without bail last night at his arraignment. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer, robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.
He faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He is due back in court Feb. 20.
Several of Fernandez’s teary-eyed relatives attended the hearing.
“He’s doing fine,” his lawyer, Joseph Ramirez, said afterward.
The brazen attack stunned veteran cops, who said they could not recall a case of an officer being targeted for assault so that his weapon could be stolen and used for other crimes.
“It is a miracle that the officer survived,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. “This case underscores yet again the dangers faced by the New York City police officers in the performance of their duties.”
Cho and Lynch, who is not related to police-union boss Patrick Lynch, on Sunday night were separately walking the streets of Jackson Heights in uniform as part of Operation Impact, a 5-year-old NYPD program that floods high-crime areas with rookie cops to combat violence.
Fernandez told police that at about 9:30 p.m., he went out with a baseball bat looking for an officer working alone for the express purpose of robbing the cop of his gun and handcuffs, Brown said.
“Fernandez claimed to be $16,000 in debt, which he hoped to pay off by committing robberies with the police officer’s gun and cuffs,” according to a statement from Brown’s office.
Officials did not reveal the nature of Fernandez’s debts.
When he confessed to the assault under interrogation, Fernandez mentioned not only his debts, but also the fact that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend, the sources said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly praised Lynch and Schmidt’s quick action.
“The outstanding response by the young police officers to this vicious attack on their fellow police officer prevented the assailant from escaping and from posing a greater risk to the public,” Kelly said.
Additional reporting by Patrick White, Rich Calder, Ikimulisa Livingston and Jana Winter