Ex-cop with PTSD almost kills random NJ man; victim’s family fears he’ll return

✅ Brian Pyke is charged with stabbing a stranger in his daughter's neighborhood

✅ He is charged with first-degree attempted murder

✅ Pyke is a retired NYPD officer who worked at Ground Zero

A man accused of almost killing one of his daughter's neighbors will remain locked up pending trial after a Superior Court judge determined that the mentally ill retired cop is too dangerous to be released.

Brian Pyke, 65, is charged with attempted murder after the June 16 stabbing on Willow Run Lane in Montgomery. He was later arrested in the lobby of a hotel in South Brunswick. 

After the stabbing, in which he taunted the victim and said he hoped he would die, police said Pyke drove into Princeton and South Brunswick. During the getaway, he struck a police vehicle, went the wrong way on a street and hit a second vehicle, police said.

He is also charged with aggravated assault, eluding law enforcement, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.

Random attack in the neighborhood

The North Carolina man was visiting a daughter who lives in the quiet, leafy neighborhood of million-dollar homes.

Believing that she had been harmed, an unhinged Pyke stabbed a 69-year-old man who lives nearby and who was outside, police said. According to police and the victim's family, the victim's connection to the Pyke family was all in his head.

Pyke's other daughter told a Superior Court judge on Monday that her father had stopped taking his psychiatric medication.

Pyke's public defender, Sally Monkemeier, revealed that he is a retired NYPD officer who worked at Ground Zero. He is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder "as a result of stuff that he experienced as a police officer, and also for the work that he did at Ground Zero," Monkemeier said.

Victim's family is in fear

Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Erin Hamilton said the victim is still hospitalized and his family has not returned home.

The prosecutor said Pyke still believes that the victim is responsible for harming his daughter and tried to justify his actions during police questioning.

"The victim and his wife are extremely afraid for their safety, especially because this defendant seems to think that the victim had some sort of inappropriate contact with his daughter, which at this point is completely unfounded. But since the defendant believes it, they fear that he will try to attack him or kill him," Hamilton said.

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Suspect went off meds, daughter says

Pyke's attorney said he was in New Jersey to attend his granddaughter's recital. The court hearing indicated that his daughter had at one point survived domestic violence.

Pyke's other daughter flew from Florida to address the court, describing her father as her best friend.

"My dad has been on his medication for years and has never had any instance like this. If you could speak to him, you could have a conversation with him right now, there's nothing. He's not his true form. He's not his true self. He's not really in touch with reality," Genevieve said.

Superior Court Judge Peter Gates, sitting in Somerville, denied Pyke's release, pointing to his disregard for following police orders. The judge also wasn't convinced that Pyke could be released without being sent to a secure inpatient mental health facility.

Pyke's next court appearance is Aug. 8 for a pre-indictment hearing.

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