Police officers on Tuesday shot and killed a driver in Canarsie who allegedly tried to flee from a traffic stop and nearly struck a lieutenant with his vehicle in the process.
According to police brass, the NYPD Community Response Team spotted the driver operating a Porsche erratically along the Belt Parkway at about 8:06 p.m. on April 29. Chief of Department John Chell said cops spotted mismatched license plates on the vehicle in question and discovered they belonged to a stolen car.
“The officers conducted a quick check on this vehicle, and the plate came back as stolen. It was later discovered that this vehicle, in fact, was stolen out of Pennsylvania.” Chell said. “When he also attempted to pull the car over at Cropsey Avenue, the vehicle exited, but then a high rate of speed got back on the Belt Parkway.”
Rather than engage the driver in a pursuit, police reported, cops moved to stop the driver by attempting a blockade at Exit 13. The driver, however, allegedly drove through the blockade, nearly striking a lieutenant, Chell said.
“Officers tried to intercept this vehicle, at which time, this Porsche at a high rate of speed, maneuvered onto the service road in direction of several officers who set up a roadblock to stop this vehicle. At least one of these officers, the Porsche came into close proximity, nearly striking him,” he reported, adding that the incident was captured on body camera.
During the chaos, the lieutenant opened fire on the vehicle and shot 28-year-old driver in the chest through the windshield. Paramedics rushed him Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. A passenger in the car was taken into custody. The lieutenant, meanwhile, was examined at a local hospital.
While police say the identity of the driver is being withheld pending family notification. Sources said the driver was on federal probation for transporting stolen vehicles across state lines from Pennsylvania.
The incident was at least the fourth police-involved shooting in Brooklyn this year. Last month, officers shot and injured a man who allegedly charged at them with a box cutter in Flatlands and opened fire on another man suspected of slashing a victim in East Flatbush. On April 6, cops shot and injured a man accused of attacking four children with a meat cleaver in Bensonhurst.
