NYPD charge suspect in fatal stabbings, other attacks in Manhattan

NYPD investigators put on a full-court press Christmas Eve — including the use of aviation, transit, housing and patrol units — to track down and arrest a suspect in a series of stabbings in Manhattan that included two killings and a number of assaults, officials said Monday.

The arrest of Roland Codrington, 35, of Manhattan followed a search that intensified after a 60 year-old doctor was brutally stabbed to death early on Dec. 23 in a Harlem park. Codrington was charged with the murder of the physician, as well as another fatal slashing carried out Dec. 19 in lower Manhattan, said NYPD chief of detectives James Essig at a news conference at police headquarters Monday morning.

Police believe that Codrington, who has a record of 12 prior arrests, was responsible for two additional assaults in Manhattan on Dec. 22 at a bar where he felt he had been disrespected during an earlier incident, explained Essig. The next day, local detectives were able to identify Codrington as a suspect in the fatal Dec. 19 slashing and were looking for him, according to investigators.

A key lead in the case developed when cops spotted Codrington and a woman entering the Mercedes of the victim in the Harlem park stabbing. At that time, said Essig, a coordinated plan by the NYPD was put into place which 12 hours later led to the arrest of Codrington, who faces charges of murder, attempted murder, assault and criminal mischief. Planning for the search involved the highest levels of the department, including Commissioner Keechant Sewell, officials noted.

The series of stabbing attacks have led police to look into all recent stabbings in the city to see if there are any connections, according to Essig.

Codrington’s arrest record includes charges assault with a weapons, criminal possession of a weapon, as well a knife robberies and assault.

The first fatal stabbing following a jostling incident that escalated and led to the victim being slashed across the neck, said Essig. The Harlem incident in Marcus Garvey park followed a confrontation Codrington had at a lower Manhattan bar. In the park, Codrington encountered the doctor, said police. Why the doctor, who lived in the Bronx, was in the park wasn’t explained by police.

“There was a verbal exchange, where he becomes enraged and takes out a knife and stabs [the victim] numerous times,” said Essig.

Police said Codrington’s girlfriend had not been charged as of Monday but that she was a focus of the investigation.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.