NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A 19-year-old man pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the 2022 shooting of an off-duty NYPD officer who he was trying to carjack, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Wednesday.
Chad Collie pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree.
The incident took place at approximately 10:00 p.m. on February 1, 2022, when Collie approached the officer's vehicle which was stopped at a traffic light near the intersection of Beach Channel Drive and Beach 62nd Street in Far Rockaway.
Collie tapped on the driver's side window and at gunpoint demanded that the driver, a 22-year-old off-duty NYPD officer, get out of the car, officials said.
According to the charges, video surveillance shows the officer exit the vehicle, and back away from Collie when he fired three shots at the officer, striking him once in the shoulder.
The off-duty officer returned fire, but missed Collie, who then fled on foot from the scene.
Nearby uniformed officers in an unmarked police vehicle responded to the sound of gunfire and spotted Collie on Beach 62nd Street, police said.
The officers followed Collie to the intersection of Beach Channel Drive and Beach 59th Street where they stopped a few feet in front of him and exited their vehicle.
Three shell casings were recovered near the intersection of Beach 62nd Street and Beach Channel Drive, where Collie had fired at the off-duty officer, who received medical treatment at a local hospital for his injuries.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino indicated she would sentence Collie to a determinate term of 19 years in prison at sentencing on May 30.
"We will not allow our communities to devolve into a state of chaos where police officers are fired upon without consequence," District Attorney Katz said. "The rule of law and the officers who enforce it must be respected. This case is yet another example of why we must continue doing all that we absolutely can to get guns off our streets."
