NORTH BELLMORE, N.Y. (WCBS 880) -- Five Nassau County police officers were injured and four police cruisers damaged after three armed teens from New Jersey stole a Mercedes-Benz and led police on a pursuit Sunday, county officials said Tuesday as they slammed New York’s criminal justice reform laws.
A detective spotted the blue 2020 Mercedes GLS 450 in Roslyn around 12:15 p.m. Sunday as police investigated a burglary pattern. Police tried to stop the Mercedes, but the 16-year-old boy behind the wheel took off, police said.
Four police cruisers were struck—two of them totaled—before the teen finally pulled over on the Long Island Expressway, according to police.
The teen driver, as well as a 17-year-old in the front seat and a 16-year-old in the rear passenger seat were also arrested. A loaded pistol was recovered from the vehicle, police said.
The teens were taken to a hospital for evaluation, while three police officers and two detectives were hospitalized for treatment.
One officer suffered a concussion and pain to the left wrist, right hip, back and neck. A second officer suffered neck and left shoulder pain. A third officer injured his left wrist. One detective also suffered a concussion and another detective suffered cervical pain.
At a news conference Tuesday, Nassau PD Commissioner Patrick Ryder said all five officers were placed on medical leave and that some may have “career-ending injuries.”
“Lock your cars. Take your fobs in. My cops are getting hurt trying to recover your property that if it was locked, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Ryder said. “I wouldn’t have five cops that are out sick and maybe career-ending injuries.”
Ryder said teens from Newark are coming to Nassau County to steal cars and bring them back to New Jersey. As recently as Tuesday morning in Syosset, a BMW was stolen at a gas station, he said.
“They are hired guns by the gangs in Newark, New Jersey. They’re reckless, they’re dangerous, they are damaging our vehicles, they are hurting our cops,” he said.
The teens drive the stolen cars to Newark, where they’re used in drag racing and to commit other crimes, according to Ryder.
“They’ll leave them for a day or two. If nobody hits on it, they’ll then rent it out to another gangbanger to do a drive-by shooting or commit another crime,” he said.
Car thefts in Nassau are up 206% this year, with 370 cars stolen compared to 121 cars at this time last year, Ryder said.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman blamed New York state’s criminal justice reform laws for the spike in thefts.
“They come to New York from New Jersey because of the liberal progressive policies that have made New York state a less safe place to live in with cashless bail and Raise the Age,” Blakeman said.
The so-called “Raise the Age” law upped the age of criminal responsibility in New York to 18 years old, while bail reform eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges, among other measures.
All three teens in Sunday's pursuit were charged with grand larceny in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees. The 16-year-old driver was also charged with five counts of second-degree assault and third-degree unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle.
Two of the teens were let go without bail. The third had a warrant and was kept behind bars, police said.
Related
Related
Related
