By Thomas Tracy
Source New York Daily News
A driver of a stolen car rammed into approaching Queens police officers, throwing one of the cops onto the car’s hood before another officer opened fire on the fleeing vehicle, police said Thursday.
It was the fourth time in less than a month that an NYPD cop has opened fire on an escaping vehicle in the city.
Cops were rolling through Jamaica about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when they spotted a 2018 white Subaru Forrester reported stolen a day earlier near the corner of Tuskegee Airmen Way and Sutphin Blvd., cops said.
Two officers and a lieutenant boxed in the car and were approaching on foot when the driver nosed through an opening and gunned the engine.
The escaping car hit one of the approaching officers in the legs, knocking him onto the hood, police said.
Another cop pulled his weapon and opened fire on the escaping SUV but it wasn’t immediately clear if he hit the SUV or not.
The two officers were taken to Jamaica Hospital with minor injuries. No arrests have been made.
NYPD policy discourages shooting at moving vehicles unless something other than the vehicle is being used as a weapon. But there are exceptions, based on circumstance.
On Sunday, Bronx teen Luis Manuel-Monsato was shot in the head and left with critical injuries as he tried to drive away from approaching cops who stopped him for blowing through several red lights — nearly striking one of the officers with the car in the process, cops said.
On March 3, a sergeant shot at a reckless driver who nearly struck him and other officers during a Brooklyn car stop of another vehicle. The shot hit the back of the car that nearly hit the cop in Flatlands. The driver lost control, struck a parked car and ran off. A passenger was taken into custody.
On Feb. 15, a robbery suspect nearly clipped a cop in East Harlem. The cop fired one round but didn’t strike anyone and the suspect got away.
On Nov. 3, a Brooklyn cop fired at least six shots at a Honda CR-V driven by a man trying to run him over in reverse after cops tried to stop and question the driver about a string of auto break-ins. The driver and passenger abandoned the vehicle in East New York and ran off.
All four shootings are being investigated by the NYPD.
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