Off-duty officer shot in leg during attempted carjacking in Queens, 2 arrested
ASTORIA, Queens (WABC) -- Two men with at least a dozen arrests each are facing charges after an off-duty officer was shot in the leg during an attempted carjacking in Queens over the weekend.
One of the two suspects, Denzel Brown, 29, is a level three sex offender.
Brown was charged with raping a girl under 16 in 2015 and spent seven years behind bars.
He's also wanted for questioning in a 2023 subway slashing in East Harlem.
Eyewitness News' cameras rolled as Brown was being taken into custody wearing a white hoodie.
He, along with Marvin Dankwah, is facing charges in Sunday morning's shooting.
Dankwah has been arrested a dozen times before for assault, robbery and passing counterfeit money at a CVS earlier this month.
The off-duty officer had just left a strip club.
Police are looking into whether dancers tipped off the suspects about customers wearing expensive jewelry.
Surveillance video showed the flashy green sports car parked on 43rd Avenue in Astoria, Queens.
Just two spots behind was the gray Nissan with two suspects inside.
Eyewitness News is told that's when the suspects made their move and pulled up next to the BMW, double-parked, and boxed the green car in with the off-duty officer behind the wheel.
One of the suspects then got out of the Nissan. Both vehicles are seen inching forward and then reversing, as the green BMW was boxed in.
It appears this is when shots were fired through the windshield, grazing the 25-year-old officer's leg.
The off-duty officer hit the gas and sped away onto the sidewalk. He drove onto the street and hightailed it for about a mile until he flagged down a marked NYPD patrol car.
Neighbors were stunned that all of this happened right on their doorstep as an active investigation played out on anything but a peaceful Sunday morning.
Both suspects have been charged with attempted murder, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon.
They are expected to be arraigned later on Monday. The officer continues to recover at the hospital.
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