Burglary arrest leads to Cop of the Month honors for Bay Ridge officer

The arrest of a pair of restaurant burglars earned one 68th Precinct officer Cop of the Month honors for June.

Police Officer Colleen Canavan, a member of the precinct’s daytime anti-crime team, snagged the award for her part in the apprehension of two people, described by Captain Joseph Hayward at the 68th Precinct Community Council’s June meeting, as “career criminals,” with “38 arrests between them.”

Hayward told the group gathered at the station house, 333 65th Street, that in the early morning hours of April 28, Canavan and the other members of the anti-crime team, which had been “deployed to Third Avenue restaurant locations which had several burglaries in the past weeks,” noticed an open door at one of the eateries.

“Two individuals,” he went on, “had forcefully entered the restaurant with a crowbar,” breaking open the safe and making off with the money inside. “The officers gave chase,” and captured the duo, even though two of the team members were attacked by the suspects.

Currently, Hayward added, both suspects are in jail, having been “charged with prior burglaries” since the arrest, which he said, “led to the end of the commercial burglaries tormenting our neighborhood.”

As for Canavan, Hayward noted, “In a job that is dominated by men, Officer Canavan has proven to be not equal to men, but even better than her male counterparts. She has over 250 arrests, and has risen past expectations set by her supervisors. She is not afraid of going above and beyond her sworn oath.”