Post by WaTcHeR on Jan 21, 2007 20:18:04 GMT -5
01.21.2007 - A Suffolk police officer unknowingly shot a 15-year-old boy in the wrist early yesterday during a struggle following a car pursuit, police said.
Neither the teen nor the officer realized the shot was fired until after the boy - a passenger in the car - was taken to a Lindenhurst police station, where he complained of pain in his wrist and asked that his handcuffs be loosened, police said.
"[The officer's] first thought was, 'How'd you get this wound? Did you guys have a weapon in the vehicle?' Lt. Det. Jack Fitzpatrick said. "It was only when he examined his gun ... and discovered the expended casing did he realize that his weapon had discharged."
Police declined to identify the officer who shot the boy.
Suffolk homicide detectives are investigating the incident, which began about 12:20 a.m. when a police officer spotted a Saab sport utility vehicle running a stop sign on or near Straight Path in Wyandanch.
When the officer tried to pull over the car, the driver fled with his two passengers, leading officers on a three-minute chase into West Babylon. While negotiating a turn at the corner of Little East Neck Road and Nims Avenue, the driver crashed through a fence and came to a stop, police said.
The backseat passenger exited the car and lay on the ground as one officer approached the driver's door, Fitzpatrick said. The driver did not immediately exit the car, prompting the officer to hit the driver's side window with a flashlight until it shattered.
"Apparently the two officers on the other side of the car heard the sound of breaking glass and thought they were gunshots and ... drew their weapons," Fitzpatrick said.
The front-seat passenger got out and tried to push his way past the two officers, who wrestled him to the ground, police said.
The three suspects, all 15 years old, were arrested and brought to the stationhouse. Only then, police said, did the teen complain of pain in his wrist.
The wounded teen was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition, police said.
Fitzpatrick said the shot may have gone unnoticed in part because the gun fired "out of battery," meaning the automatic weapon did not fully recoil and push a fresh round into the gun's chamber.
"At some point in the wrestling match, the piston must have been pressed against the ground ... or something else when it went off," he said.
All three teens, whose names were withheld because they are juveniles, are charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The wounded passenger also was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession and resisting arrest. The driver is charged with third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer. They were released to their parents.
The driver had taken the car, which was on loan to his mother from an acquaintance, without permission, police said.
www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lichas215061333jan21,0,7706940.story?coll=ny-linews-print
Neither the teen nor the officer realized the shot was fired until after the boy - a passenger in the car - was taken to a Lindenhurst police station, where he complained of pain in his wrist and asked that his handcuffs be loosened, police said.
"[The officer's] first thought was, 'How'd you get this wound? Did you guys have a weapon in the vehicle?' Lt. Det. Jack Fitzpatrick said. "It was only when he examined his gun ... and discovered the expended casing did he realize that his weapon had discharged."
Police declined to identify the officer who shot the boy.
Suffolk homicide detectives are investigating the incident, which began about 12:20 a.m. when a police officer spotted a Saab sport utility vehicle running a stop sign on or near Straight Path in Wyandanch.
When the officer tried to pull over the car, the driver fled with his two passengers, leading officers on a three-minute chase into West Babylon. While negotiating a turn at the corner of Little East Neck Road and Nims Avenue, the driver crashed through a fence and came to a stop, police said.
The backseat passenger exited the car and lay on the ground as one officer approached the driver's door, Fitzpatrick said. The driver did not immediately exit the car, prompting the officer to hit the driver's side window with a flashlight until it shattered.
"Apparently the two officers on the other side of the car heard the sound of breaking glass and thought they were gunshots and ... drew their weapons," Fitzpatrick said.
The front-seat passenger got out and tried to push his way past the two officers, who wrestled him to the ground, police said.
The three suspects, all 15 years old, were arrested and brought to the stationhouse. Only then, police said, did the teen complain of pain in his wrist.
The wounded teen was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he underwent surgery and was listed in stable condition, police said.
Fitzpatrick said the shot may have gone unnoticed in part because the gun fired "out of battery," meaning the automatic weapon did not fully recoil and push a fresh round into the gun's chamber.
"At some point in the wrestling match, the piston must have been pressed against the ground ... or something else when it went off," he said.
All three teens, whose names were withheld because they are juveniles, are charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The wounded passenger also was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession and resisting arrest. The driver is charged with third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer. They were released to their parents.
The driver had taken the car, which was on loan to his mother from an acquaintance, without permission, police said.
www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lichas215061333jan21,0,7706940.story?coll=ny-linews-print