Two career criminals – one an ex-con and high-risk sex offender who served time for rape – were charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting an off-duty NYPD cop while apparently trying to swipe his neon green BMW his Queens over the weekend, police said Monday.
Denzel Brown, 29, and Marvin Dankwah, 26, also face charges of first-degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the 6:30 a.m. Sunday violence that left the 25-year-old officer with a graze wound on his leg, according to authorities and sources.
Investigators are probing whether the arrested pair were attempting to carjack the off-duty cop of his flashy BMW X4 — with the license plate “SHEEESH” — which was left with a bullet hole in its front windshield, the law-enforcement sources said.
The wounded officer drove off after the shooting at the intersection of 43rd Avenue and 21st Street in Hunters Point, before stopping at 31st Road and 21st Street – in front of Astoria Baptist Church – where first responders descended on the scene.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
The suspects, meanwhile, took off in a gray older model Nissan before cops caught up to them, sources said.
Brown – who has four prior arrests – served about five years in state prison on a Brooklyn rape conviction, beginning in June of 2017, online State Corrections records show.
He was arrested for statutory rape as the victim was 14 and he was 20 at the time of the August of 2015 incident, according to sources and the state’s Sex Offender Registry.
Brown — now considered a Level 3 sex offender — was released from the Fishkill Correctional Facility in August of 2022 and remained on parole until January 2023, according to the records.
He has also been arrested for robbery, and twice for obstruction of governmental administration, cops said.
Dankwah has 10 prior arrests – the most recent just weeks ago on April 2 for allegedly using two counterfeit $100 bills to have money deposited onto a Chime debit card at a CVS in Cambria Heights, according to a criminal complaint.
He was released on his own recognizance in that case, as the charges are not bail-eligible, prosecutors said.
Arraignments for both Brown and Dankwah in the shooting case were pending Monday.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the New York City Police Benevolent Association wrote on X, “Grateful that our police officer will be OK and suspects are already in custody.
“But this attack is yet another symptom of the message on our streets, which has emboldened criminals and put cops and all NYers at risk. We need our justice system to step up and help us change that message,” the cop union said.
