MASSAPEQUA, NY — A police chase that began in New York City ended on Long Island with the driver fatally shot and seven officers and a civilian taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.
Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder told reporters Saturday that the pursuit began after New York City police officers attempted to pull over a driver in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens shortly after 11 p.m. Friday. The driver tried to ram the two officers and hit them before fleeing, Ryder said.
Nassau County officers boxed in the driver at one point, but he hit two squad cars, forcing two officers to dive out of the way, he said. The vehicle traveled further down the road and hit another police car, turned and went the wrong way before turning again and hitting a civilian car.
The driver’s vehicle went out of control and came to rest on a berm in Massapequa, Ryder said. Officers tried to get the driver out of the car, but he refused to follow and was killed by gunfire, Ryder said.
Ryder described the driver as reckless and said his vehicle “flew.”
“He jumped into oncoming traffic … he crashes into police cars, he crashes into civilian cars and he lost control of his own vehicle,” he said.
Five police officers from Nassau County and two from New York City were taken to the hospital, along with the driver of the civilian car, Ryder said. One officer was hit by the vehicle, two were injured while diving for safety and three were taken for treatment of trauma after the police shooting, he said.
The driver’s name was not immediately released. The state attorney general’s office was notified and is investigating, Ryder said. Video was collected from the city and from locations along the highway, as well as from officers’ body-worn cameras, he said.