Yesterday afternoon, a crazy scene unfolded in Elmhurst on Queens Boulevard. Two men had just robbed an HSBC bank when they ran out and tried to carjack a woman in a car. She drove off, so they tried to carjack another vehicle - one that happened to be carrying off-duty police officer John Lopez, his wife, their 4 month old baby, and his mother-in-law. From The NY Times:
One of the men tried to open the passenger-side door, while the second man rapped on the driver’s window with a gun, ordering Mr. Lopez out, the police said
Mr. Lopez then identified himself as a police officer, jumped out of the car, gun in hand, and began chasing one of the suspects north on 55th Avenue, Mr. Kelly said.
Witnesses described a panicked scene. [Witness Mindy] Erdman, who had just eaten at the Georgia Diner opposite the bank, said she had just stepped onto the street when she heard shots. A tall, lean man was chasing a tall, husky man wearing a ski mask and clutching a bag, she said, and they were darting among pedestrians who were diving for cover.
One of the men was firing as he ran and hit Officer Lopez in the thigh, the police said. Officer Lopez fired back, hitting the man twice, the police said. The suspect fell, dropping a .380-caliber pistol. Officer Lopez, bleeding, caught up with him and pinned him until backup officers arrived, the police said.
The other suspect was found under a car in a diner parking lot - and it turns out the two men had lengthy criminal histories. Dino Mines, who had hidden under the car, had just served 15 years for manslaughter and Joseph Pennington, who fired at Lopez and was wounded, had been arrested 16 times with 20 felonies.
People had been hiding from the robbers both inside the bank and on the street. The police recovered $15,000 and believe that Mines and Pennington are believed to be behind two bank robberies in the area. Lopez is in stable condition at ICU, while Pennington is in critical but stable condition, both at Elmhurst General. Mayor Bloomberg said, "These career criminals ran into the wrong guy. [The suspects] shot at the wrong person and God happened to protect him."
