Former Corrections Worker Arrested After Talking About Killing Police

Elvin Payamps, 38, was taken into custody after a witness overheard him saying he wanted to kill cops.

GLENDALE — A former city Department of Correction employee was busted with illegal guns, brass knuckles and a bulletproof vest he took from his old job after he was overheard talking about killing police, the NYPD said.

Elvin Payamps, 38, spoke about a plan to kill a police officer while on his cellphone inside a TD Bank on Metropolitan Avenue and 80th Street at 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, police said.

"I'm going to kill another cop. We should do it before Christmas. The cop should have been white that was killed. I always have a gun on me," Payamps said, according to the criminal complaint.

A 54-year-old witness overheard the conversation and called 911, but Payamps left before police arrived. 
The NYPD put out a description for Payamps, and he was found at Metro Mall two miles away on Metropolitan Avenue, where he was getting into his car, according to police.

A police car followed him and stopped him at the intersection of Metropolitan Avenue and Rentar Plaza, where a bag of marijuana was in view on the front passenger seat, police said. Police also found a metal pipe with cannabis wax, according to the criminal complaint.

Payamps, who police said works in construction, was arrested after the witness identified him. He was taken to the 104th Precinct.

The NYPD then searched his home on Edsall Avenue, near 72nd Place in Glendale, after getting verbal and written approval from his wife, police said.

They found two firearms, two bullet-resistant vests, brass knuckles and a holster inside the home, police said.

One of the vests was labeled "BKDC," for Brooklyn Detention Complex, and was taken by Payamps in 2004 when he worked for the city Department of Correction, the criminal complaint said. The vest had belonged a retired a Correction officer, who said Payamps did not have the authority to take it, the criminal complaint said.

It was unclear how long Payamps worked for the Corrections Department or what job he held. The department did not immediately return a request for comment. 
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Police searched Elvin Payamps' house in Glendale and found two illegal firearms, brass knuckles and bullet-resistant vests.

DNAinfo/Katie Honan

Payamps was arrested on three weapons charges, aggravated harassment, unlawful use of a police uniform, having overly tinted windows and unlawful possession of marijuana, police said. He's expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Information about his lawyer was not immediately available.

The bust came nearly a week after gunman Ismaayil Brinsley killed officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu as they sat in a patrol car in Bed-Stuy. A total of six people have been arrested for making threats against the NYPD since the officers were ambushed, and two Brooklyn precincts bolstered security after receiving warnings, according to officials and sources.

Payamps was previously arrested Oct. 29 for a misdemeanor charge involving "sound reproduction devices," according to city records.

A neighbor on 72nd Place who declined to give his name said he'd occasionally talk to Payamps, adding that he was a "normal" guy with a teenage son.

"I saw him sometimes," the neighbor said. "He's OK."