An NYPD officer is in critical condition following a late night incident in which he was dragged for almost three blocks by the driver of a car in a hit-and-run, Commissioner James P. O'Neill told reporters.
According to O'Neill, six plain clothes cops, including 35-year-old officer Dalsh Veve, responded to multiple calls about shots fired near Tilden Avenue and East 53rd Street shortly before midnight last night. While the officers learned that the gun shot noises were probably fireworks from a house party, Officer Veve was speaking with people parked in a black Honda sedan parked across the street from the party.
According to the cops on the scene, while they were still talking with witnesses, they noticed that the driver of the Honda had sped off down Tilden and was dragging Officer Veve under the car. The driver dragged Veve for a two and a half blocks, turning down East 53rd Street before Veve was freed and left on the street. The driver then crashed the car on East 53rd Street between Snyder and Church Avenues, and all the suspects fled the scene on foot.
Update from @NYPDONeill on the incident involving an injured officer in Brooklyn. @NYPD67Pct pic.twitter.com/3dfeFFbcRc
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 4, 2017
According to O'Neill, Veve was able to fire two shots from his service weapon while he was getting dragged. Later that night, a 15-year-old who police think was in the car that dragged Veve was admitted to Brookdale Hospital with a gunshot wound, which police believe came from Veve's weapon. In addition to the teenage suspect at Brookdale, O'Neill said that there are "several persons of interest" that police are interviewing. Cops also suspect that the car used in the hit-and-run was recently stolen from Long Island.
Officer Veve, a nine-year veteran of the NYPD, was rushed to Kings County Hospital after the incident, where he's currently in critical condition.