New York Detective Recalls Hostage Heroics

After seven nerve-wracking hours of nonstop talking, Detective Michael Cook finally convinced a barricaded Queens man to surrender, after he had doused himself and his 3-year-old daughter in gasoline and threatened to blow up the building.

"He was smoking cigarettes the whole time," said Cook, recalling the Feb. 23 incident at the Queensbridge North Houses in Long Island City, in which Vincent Ricks had allegedly poured five gallons of gas over himself and his daughter, Serena.

Fearing that a lit cigarette could be deadly, Cook kept the agitated man focused and communicated with him through a punched-out peephole.

"We talked about everything. I just wanted him to hand over Serena," Cook recalled.

A relative told police that Ricks had forgotten to take his medication.

By the seventh hour, Cook explained, "I guess I just wore him out."

Ricks unlocked the door and handed the child to Cook before being taken into custody.

Cook has been nominated for a Post Liberty Medal in the Finest category.

The winners will be honored at a ceremony on Monday.

Republished with permission from the New York Post