A team of NYPD officers used a GPS device to track down a fugitive wanted in a deadly crime spree. NY1's Dean Meminger filed this report.
The NYPD says it's lucky it got Kendrick Gregory, wanted for murder and rape in North Carolina, off of the streets before he caused bloodshed here.
"God knows what he would have done up here in New York. He was literally an individual totally out of control," said Police Commissioner William Bratton.
The 21-year-old Gregory is accused of going on a violent rampage beginning Sunday that left one man dead in Raliegh, North Carolina. Officers there say he robbed multiple people at gunpoint and stole three cars. The NYPD says the crimes are horrifying.
"He went in to rob a pawn shop, shot the individual, who succumbed right after. Later on, 30 minutes after that at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, he raped a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint," said NYPD Chief of Patrol Carlos Gomez.
As the one-man crime wave unfolded, police in Raleigh even warned residents to stay home for their own safety, but the NYPD says Gregory then drove a stolen car to New York, dumped it, and then on Tuesday stole a Honda Pilot that had its keys in the ignition in Lower Manhattan. That's how police caught him.
The owner had a phone app that linked to her car's GPS. Officers from the 1st precinct used their own phones to track the car in Brooklyn.
The police say that when they surrounded the stolen car, they didn't know who they were dealing with, but they sensed danger. It turns out, Gregory had two 45-caliber pistols on him.
"It was iffy. We kind of went at it hard. I think that helped him to surrender," said Officer Erik Skoglund.
"It's flabbergasting. Even we didn't really expect that much. It mushroomed very quickly. But, we were happy we were apart of that. We were able to work as a team to stop him," said Officer Adam Riddick.