According to law enforcement sources, a worker with the US Postal Service is accused of threatening an NYPD officer soon after receiving a summons for having pepper spray in the subway on Friday.
Authorities reported that 21-year-old Dontae Lyles was taken into custody at his workplace on Saturday. He allegedly called the officer, threatening, “I’m going to get you,” and sent a string of intimidating text messages, one of which included an image of a gun.
“This is what a real gun f–king looks like d–khead,” he allegedly wrote, as well as “I will see you guys real soon quick and easy,” sources said.
Sources indicated that the officer, along with other police, initially encountered Lyles on an uptown 6 train around 4:45 a.m. when he was purportedly carrying a sizable can of pepper spray.
Lyles was taken off the train at the Parkchester Avenue station in the Bronx and issued a summons for possessing the large can in transit, sources said.
Less than an hour later, the cop received phone calls to his personal phone from a blocked number.
After the fifth missed call, he picked up and heard a voice that sounded like the suspect’s on the other end of the line reciting the officer’s full name and apparent address, sources said.
“I told you I’m not f–king around,” he allegedly said. “I’m going to get you.”
Lyles allegedly called another 19 times and then sent numerous texts featuring a gun, as well as a video of a magazine being removed from the weapon, sources said.
A search warrant of the suspect’s house later recovered the gun that was allegedly in the photo and materials used for a ghost gun, according to sources.
He’s facing charges of making terrorist threats and aggravated harassment tied to the alleged calls and messages, sources said.
Lyles is also on the hook for several counts of criminal possession of a weapon for the gun and ghost gun materials allegedly found in his home, sources said.
