A Queens police precinct commander proved Saturday morning that New York’s Finest are never off the job — by busting a trio of alleged car thieves during a day-off jog.
Capt. John Hall, 42, the top cop at the 111 Precinct in Bayside, was on a morning run along Joe Michael’s Mile near the Bayside Marina when he noticed something seemed off about a white Mercedes SUV in his path. It was the exact same make and model as a car reported stolen within his precinct.
“I gave it a look, and then I remembered the first three letters of the plate matched,” Hall said. “At that point I rightfully guessed that I had a stolen car parked there.”
Another Mercedes SUV was parked right next to it — and between the two vehicles, three men were sleeping inside, Hall said.
The quick-thinking cop decided to run another 50 feet — enough of a distance away from the snoozing suspects — before he phoned in the sighting to his precinct.
Officers showed up and took the trio into custody. It turned out that they were also carrying an assortment of stolen credit cards, authorities said.
The first vehicle Hall spotted had been reported stolen at 208th Street and 53rd Avenue a day earlier, and the second was reported stolen in Nassau County, police said.
Charges were pending on the three suspects.
Hall said the 111th Precinct has been investigating a slew of car break-ins lately.
“Pretty much any precinct commander pretty much lives and breathes his precinct,” he said.
“So we’ve been getting hit hard with the car break-ins, and we’ve had a couple of vehicle thefts that were probably a result of car break-ins — people leaving their keys in the car. … It was something that was in the forefront of my mind right now.”
Hall is a 15-year veteran of the NYPD who also attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He’s been assigned to the 111 Precinct for a year and a half.