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Hero Cop Once Shot In Head Captures Two Alleged Home Invaders

By Murray Weiss | May 28, 2013 5:21pm | Updated on May 28, 2013 7:32pm
 NYPD Officer Kevin Brennan headed home from Bellevue Hospital Feb. 10, 2012, after recovering from being shot in Bushwick.
NYPD Officer Kevin Brennan headed home from Bellevue Hospital Feb. 10, 2012, after recovering from being shot in Bushwick.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

BROOKLYN — Sgt. Kevin Brennan, the hero cop who miraculously survived being shot in the head last year in Bushwick, captured two armed thugs Tuesday wanted in connection with a recent neighborhood home invasion, DNAinfo New York has learned.

Brennan, the father of a baby daughter, was working in plainclothes in February 2012 when he chased a gunman into the Bushwick Houses near 140 Moore St. During the pursuit, he was shot, allegedly by Luis "Baby" Ortiz.

Brennan and his partner Mitchell Burbridge had returned to the scene of that shooting early Tuesday along with two assistant Brooklyn district attorneys, Lewis Lieberman, who specializes in prosecuting cop shooters, and Melissa Carvajal, a homicide prosecutor, to prep for Ortiz's upcoming trial.

About 1 p.m., as the two cops climbed back into their squad car after touring the scene and started to drive away, Burbridge recognized two men on the street — Tyrell Woods and Joseph Roman.

“They knew both men and were looking for them" in connection with a home invasion in Bushwick on May 21 at 2 Stanwick St., a law enforcement source said.

 NYPD Sgt. Kevin Brennan recovered this 9mm handgun from a home invasion suspect May 28, 2013.
NYPD Sgt. Kevin Brennan recovered this 9mm handgun from a home invasion suspect May 28, 2013.
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NYPD

Brennan frisked Woods and found a loaded 9mm handgun in his waistband, the source and police officials said. Brennan and Burbridge then held the two men until backup came from the 83rd Precinct.

Roman, 17, a Brooklyn resident, and Woods, 23, a Staten Island resident, were both charged with robbery and criminal use of a firearm, police said.

In 2012, Brennan, 30, a seven-year NYPD veteran, was a part of a plainclothes anti-crime team when he and fellow officers responded to reports of shots fired on Moore Street.

The bullet that struck him lodged in his skull, but did not pierce his brain.  The slug was later removed and displayed inside a blood-splattered plastic container by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly at a press conference at Bellevue Hospital.

The lucky-to-be-alive cop was later promoted to detective, and then sergeant, and returned to full duty on patrol in Brooklyn.