Yesterday, police shot a man in Brooklyn who they say attacked them with a cane. Dairon Bledsoe, 27, allegedly was spotted hitting an empty marked cop car in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. According to police, Bledsoe struck a female officer in the face with his cane, breaking it into two, and was then shot by another officer. But locals tell the Post cops used too much force on the suspect: “Several people warned the police that he was emotionally disturbed, but the police proceeded to chase him down,” a witness named Jason told them. “It seems like an overreaction.”
“He didn’t hit the cop car,” Luis Acevedo, 51, added. “The cops came and started looking at the car. There was nothing wrong with it. We told them. They still went after him.” According to police, Bledsoe's blow caused bruising, swelling and lacerations to the officer's face, and he was preparing to strike her again when the other officer fired and hit him in the upper torso area.
Acevedo disputes this recollection of events: “They didn’t give him no warning," Acevedo said, claiming the man didn't strike the officer. "They just shot him. The guy fell down right on the floor. We thought he was dead." The Post notes that surveillance video shows the victim "taking a wild swing at the cop." “I saw [the officer] panicking," said Lenora Johnson, who says Bledsoe definitely was waving his cane around. "It happened so fast. It was horrifying.”
Bledsoe was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he is in stable condition. He's been charged with felony assault, assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer, menacing, attempted criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon. Both officers were taken to Wyckoff Hospital and are in stable condition.
