The family of an off-duty NYPD cop killed while trying to stop a thief in a Brooklyn robbery will get his full line-of-duty death benefits.
Police Officer Adeed Fayaz, 26, was fatally shot on Feb. 4 when he went to East New York with his brother-in-law to buy a Honda Pilot he saw on Facebook Marketplace.
Widow Madiha Sabeel, 30, said she was holding her breath over whether she and her sons Rayaan, 5, and Zayaan, 4, would get the hero benefits — or not because he was off-duty at the time of his death.
But officials determined that he was fighting crime in his last actions and therefore his family should be awarded his full $60,000 salary plus medical benefits for life.
Without full line-of-duty status, the family would have gotten a one-time lump sum payment of about $180,000, three times his annual salary.
“The PBA didn’t give up on us and they stood with us,” Sabeel, who is from Pakistan, tearfully told The Post of the police union’s advocacy. “At one point, even we thought we’re probably not going to get it but the PBA stuck with us and this is now going to help the kids.”
The New York City Police Pension Fund informed the family on Dec. 12 that it would grant Fayaz the line-of-duty death status, a union official said.
Gunman Randy Jones, whose rap sheet listed 22 busts, including for grand larceny, harassment, and strangulation, ambushed the duo after they showed up with $24,000 cash to buy the car, police said.
Fayaz returned fire but a bullet struck him in the head. His brother-in-law then grabbed the cop’s gun and shot Jones, who survived.
He was charged with murder and is in jail on Rikers Island awaiting trial.
PBA President Patrick Hendry said the union told the pension fund Fayaz was taking necessary police action to protect his brother-in-law when he fired at Jones.
“As long as we have that shield in our pocket, we’re going to help everyone who needs it on the streets, whether it’s stepping in to help a stranger or whether it’s a family member who’s in danger, and that’s what happened in this case,” Hendry said.
“Adeed saw his brother-in-law in danger,” Hendry said. “He didn’t run the other way. He took police action. He ran toward the situation putting himself at risk and unfortunately, it cost him his life.”
Sadaqat Fayaz, 47, said his son became a cop because he wanted to help people.
“Sometimes he’d work 24 hours and when he’d come home he’d never show he’s tired or anything,” said Fayaz, who owns a Queens pizza shop. “He always wanted to go back to work again. He loves being a police officer.”
Detective Rohail Khalid, president of the Pakistani American Law Enforcement Society, said Fayaz wanted to be an aviation maintenance technician in the NYPD’s Aviation Division and had an interview for the job scheduled when he was killed.
“His interview was the same week when he got shot and killed,” Khalid said of his friend, who was born in Pakistan. “He lost weight for it. He just wanted to make it to the unit.”
The officer’s mother, Riffat Perveen, 49, spoke about her dead son through tears.
“My son was my life,” the heartbroken mother said. “I can’t believe he’s not with us anymore.”