By Tom Tracy
Two teens were arrested in what investigators are calling an alleged unprovoked attack against an off-duty cop. Officials alleged that even after the victim, Douglas Ayres announced that he was a cop, the neighborhood teens repeatedly punched him outside the On the Run gas station at the corner of Gerritsen Avenue and Knapp Street. Police said that one of the teens arrested at the scene is from Gerritsen Beach. The other was from Marine Park. As of this writing, a handful of others were still being sought by authorities. Officer Reyes, a cop from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, said that he went into the store connected to the Mobil gas station at 12:15 a.m. on January 24 to get himself some hot chocolate. At that time Tuesday, a group of neighborhood teens were milling about, he said. As he went to his car, one of the teens allegedly threw a plastic bottle at him. Police alleged that when he turned around, he found himself surrounded by the group of teens. One of the teens cursed at him and struck him in the face, officials alleged. When he said that he was a cop, the teens “struck the victim several times,” police alleged. Several of the teens fled the gas station in a 1999 Astro van, alleged officials. Responding officers from the 61st Precinct managed to track down and arrest one of the suspects at the corner of Cyrus Avenue and Frank Court. That teen, 18-year-old Dennis McCann of the 60 block of Frank Court, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct. An alleged accomplice, identified as 17-year-old Lloyd Byam of the 1500 block of East 37th Street, was arrested the next evening. Detectives from the 61st Precinct charged the teen with assault with intent to cause injury and criminal possession of a weapon. Cops did not disclose what weapon was allegedly found on Byam when he was taken into custody. Nor did they disclose the motive behind the alleged attack.
