By Helen Klein
Teamwork was key. For their effectiveness in handling a road rage shooting that took place at 66th Street and 10th Avenue in December, three detectives from the 68th Precinct detective squad and two police officers at the precinct shared cop of the month honors for January. As a result, Detectives James Carrion, John Cavanaugh and William Colvin and P.O.s Joseph Augello and Felix Malave were in the spotlight during the 68th Precinct Community Council’s January meeting. Speaking to the crowd gathered at the station house, 333 65th Street, Captain Eric Rodriguez, the precinct’s commanding officer, said that the five had gone above and beyond in their handling of the case. The three detectives, he told his listeners, had, “Stayed all night. The next morning, they identified the truck that had been involved in the incident,” which, Rodriguez said, had been concealed beneath a tarp. “Within 24 hours, they identified the perp, and the day after Christmas, the guy was actually arrested, so they got a guy off the street who had a gun,” Rodriguez added. As for the two police officers, Rodriguez said that Augello had located the gun that had been used in the shooting, concealed behind a rock near where the truck was parked. Malave, he added, had found the shell casing, “The next day, five blocks away” from the scene of the crime. “By the great work of the cops and the detectives, the whole puzzle was put together,” Rodriguez concluded.
