Last Thursday night, police pursued a suspected car thief—allegedly armed—on the streets of Williamsburg and ended up shooting and wounding him. Now the police say that the suspect, Dahan Sam, fired at the police first.
According to the NYPD, Anti-Crime plainclothes officers in an unmarked car noticed a Saturn Vue SUV driving without headlights at Moore and Broadway. The cops turned on lights and sirens and had the SUV pull over at Middleton and Broadway. But when the cops stepped out and approached the car, the SUV sped off.
Then, the police say, after alerting other squads over the radio, the police followed the Saturn, but lost it around South 9th and Berry. But then other police officers said that the suspect was on foot at South 9th and Roebling. From the NYPD:
Officers attempted to stop the suspect who fled on foot. The pursuing officers chased the suspect to the rear of 255 Havemeyer Street where they ordered him to stop. The suspect turned and fired at the officers. The officers discharged their weapons in response striking the suspect in the torso.
The police also released a photograph of the gun, which Sam allegedly used to fire at cops twice. Two officers fired back. Sam has nine entrance and exit wounds, according to the Post.
Police Commissioner Kelly said that the Saturn SUV had been reported stolen in Brooklyn earlier this month and that Sam had fired at police when he fell after climbing over a chain link fence. Sam 29, was charged with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. The Post adds, "Sam served seven years in a Pennsylvania prison for a stabbing and chain attack in 2001... He also was busted for assault in 2011 and drug sales last July."
