Drunk Driver Almost Hits Nun, Then Stabs Cop

A driver, either "emotionally disturbed" or simply drunk, caused a crazy, violent scene yesterday in Ozone Park, Queens. Fifty-year-old Joseph Leonardi had been driving the wrong way on 83rd Street, when his car "hopped onto the sidewalk," according to the Sun. The car was headed towards Sister Hannah Marie Cox, but a Good Samaritan Juan Valez pushed her away and the Buick hit a tree and a building. Leonardi got out of car and ran for six blocks, with people chasing him. But then Leonardi threatened them with a huge knife.

That's when the police arrived. Rookie cop Stuart Ingram and a partner approached the scene, and Leonardi lunged at Ingram with the knife. Luckily, Ingram's NYPD shield got in the way of the knife: The knife shattered into five pieces and the tin shield saved his life. Ingram graduated from the Police Academy on December 26; he said, "Thanks [to the badge manufacturer] for making it stronger than the knife."

And Leonardi was charged with reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a weapon, attempted murder and DWI.

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By Jen Chung in News on March 2, 2007 11:26 AM

Comments [rss]

ed_Extinct

shoot first. ask questions later.

nice, jen

wouldn't stabbing require actual contact with flesh? if it was deflected by the shield, then he wasn't actually stabbed. nice reporting, jen.

amsci

83rd St... 159th ave. Sounds more like Howard Beach than Ozone Pk.

pugsley

Your headline composition is now rivaling the NY Post. Good work.

bobbo

Dude, I knew Juan Valez grew great coffee beans but who knew he was so heroic! Oh man, if only that burro hadn't stolen his heart so long ago.

Whaddya mean the mascot's name is Juan Valdez?

just a person

Good job and thanks to Juan and the people who chased Leonardi!

Peter

Looks as if Little Joey's in a whole heap o' trouble. Maybe Mommy and Daddy, assuming they're not eating dandelions by the root, can sell their house and hire him a fancy lawyer who can convince the court that he's mental, and that way he can spend a few years doing fingerpaintings and basketweavings at Pilgrim State. Otherwise, he'll be spending some time Up the River and maybe learing what it really means to be a "bottom."

matty

That sounds like an Abel Ferrara schlock action film.

Will

I swear that I have come to read the stories just for the bad grammar and spelling!

LM

The knife shattered into 5 pieces; the shield was undamaged.

bob

"Leonardi got out of car and ran for six blocks, with people chasing him. But then Leonardi threatened him with a huge knife."

he threatened himself i guess.