NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Two road-raging brothers attacked an off-duty NYPD officer--even after he identified himself as a cop--in a chaotic confrontation in Queens on Wednesday afternoon in which the officer was beaten and shot by his own service weapon, police said.
The cop was shot in the left thigh just before 1 p.m. at 70th Street and Queens Boulevard on the border of Elmhurst and Maspeth.
He was transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, where he is expected to recover from injuries he suffered from being shot, punched and kicked.
The shooting happened during a road-rage clash in which two brothers in a minivan attacked him after he confronted them for blocking traffic on a service road along Queens Boulevard, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.
While the cop was eventually able to maneuver his vehicle around the minivan, the brothers confronted him at the intersection and one of them smashed his window, according to Maddrey. The officer then got out, identified himself as a police officer and drew his weapon on them.
As he grabbed the brother who broke his window to arrest him, both siblings attacked him, Maddrey said.
"They're both punching the officer, they're beating on the officer," the chief said. "At one point, they push him up on a vehicle, they're trying to un-holster his weapon and take the weapon from him."
During the struggle, all three men fell to the ground. As the officer was being kicked, a round went off from his firearm. Moments later, another round went off, Maddrey said.
The broad-daylight attack left the officer shot in the leg and one of the brothers shot in the hand, according to Maddrey, who said the other brother suffered a hand injury, possibly when the window was broken.
One of the brothers was cuffed at the scene, while the other initially fled but later walked into a hospital, where he was also arrested, Maddrey said.
Charges against the pair were pending Wednesday. The alleged driver, Edwin Rivera, 32, has four prior arrests, while his brother, Sean Rivera, 27, has two prior arrests, according to the NYPD.
Maddrey said it's not yet clear who fired the weapon. The shooting is under investigation by the NYPD's force investigation division.
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