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NYPD Sergeant Returns To Complex Where He Was Shot, Arrests Robbery Suspects

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A police sergeant who was shot in the head in Brooklyn last year returned Tuesday to the housing complex where the incident happened, where he and another officer arrested two suspected robbers in an unrelated case.

Intelligence Division Sgt. Kevin Brennan, and 90th Precinct Detective Squad Officer Michael Burbridge had just finished walking through a residence at 24 Humboldt St. in the Bushwick Houses development, on the cusp of the Williamsburg and Bushwick sections of Brooklyn, after a call of shots fired.

Brennan was shot in the same complex on Jan. 31, 2012, during a struggle with 21-year-old armed robber Luis "Baby" Ortiz at the Bushwick Houses, police said. The bullet lodged at the base of Brennan's skull.

He suffered mild brain damage from the injury and doctors said he lost some of his peripheral vision. But he ultimately recovered and returned to the force.

On Tuesday, Brennan and Burbridge recognized two men who were wanted for a robbery in Bushwick, Brooklyn a week earlier. The officers spotted and patted down the suspects, and Brennan found a loaded Hi-Point 9mm handgun in one of their waistbands, police said.

Gun Recovered By Sgt. Kevin Brennan
A gun recovered by Sgt. Kevin Brennan as he arrested a robber Tuesday in Brooklyn. (Credit: NYPD)

The suspect with the gun -- Joseph Roman, 17, of Brooklyn -- was arrested and charged with robbery and criminal use of a firearm. The other suspect – Tyrrell Woods, 23, of Staten Island – was arrested on the same charges, police said.

Last year, Brennan and two other officers had responded to the same site around 9 p.m. for a call of shots fired near 140 Moore St. Suspect Ortiz had fired at another individual following a stare-down.

Ortiz then shot Brennan at point-blank range during a struggle in a hallway. Police arrested Ortiz hours after the shooting, and he was charged with attempted murder.

Brennan was promoted to detective as he recovered from the shooting, and rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange about a month afterward.

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