A troubled Long Island man threatened online to “kill every NYPD officer” before embarking on a bizarre crime spree that only ended when he allegedly attacked a cop in Westchester County, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
The three-day drama began when Michael Apawu, 20, walked into a Nassau police station Wednesday and asked to get a hold of NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, then lapsed into a rant about the CIA and the FBI, police sources said.
The Long Island department soon became aware of Apawu’s alleged online threats, which have since been taken down, sources said. The Post has seen the rantings.
“I will kill every NYPD officer,” Apawu allegedly posted on Twitter, tagging Sewell’s official Twitter account. “Retweet’s PCs twitter [sic] where you at, you don’t believe me.”
Cops in the Big Apple and Nassau County, where Apawu lives, became concerned enough that they began tracking Apawu’s whereabouts and reached out to his parents, sources said.
“Michael has been stressed out lately,” his dad, a New York City transit worker who lives in Woodmere, told police, according to sources. “Acting strangely.”
Hours later, Apawu’s car was spotted near City Hall and NYPD headquarters in Lower Manhattan, putting police on further alert, sources said.
Police then staked out at his Woodmere home and picked Apawu up after he was dropped off by an acquaintance, sources said.
According to the sources, Apawu was taken to Nassau County Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation but released when doctors determined he did not need to be admitted to the psych ward.
He was released to NYPD cops in Manhattan, where he was charged with aggravated harassment for the threatening tweets. received a desk-appearance ticket and then freed without a court appearance.
An aggravated harassment charge is not eligible for bail under the state’s criminal-justice reforms. But even before the reforms took hold, it is likely that Apawu would have received a DAT and been released anyway, sources said.
They noted that he has no prior criminal history and that the charge would have typically resulted in a DAT previously, too.
Then Friday, Apawu popped up in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, where he was charged with trying to steal a car.
Sources said he jumped into a running car but then got out and fled when the owner showed up. He was nabbed by local cops a short time later.
While being held at the local police station, Apawu allegedly grabbed a Greenburgh cop by the throat and had to be hit with a Taser, leading to additional assault charges, sources said.
He was being held without bail at the Westchester County Jail on Sunday, records show.
Apawu was previously listed as an emotionally disturbed person and briefly hospitalized after a road-rage incident on Long Island on Oct. 2, the sources said.
In that case he was accused of punching another driver’s window and yelling, “I could kill you!” the police sources said. It’s unclear whether there were any charges in the case.
Sources said Apawu is from Georgia and moved north several weeks ago with his father.
According to the sources, Apawu followed several high-profile accounts on Twitter, including Sewell, President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
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