Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A Buffalo man will spend 15 years behind bars for dragging a Town of Tonawanda Police officer with his car Memorial Day two years ago.
21 year old Daerious Akbar pleaded guilty to driving off during a traffic stop at Sheridan and Sheridan Parkside after police say he ran a red light. During the traffic stop,Akbar abruptly drove off and refused the officer's commands to stop and continued to drive at a high rate of speed with the police officer hanging onto the side of vehicle. Akbar accelerated, causing Officer David Piatek to fall and strike his head on the pavement. Piatek was treated for a head injury and other serious physical injuries.
Akbar pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, one count of assault upon a police officer, one count of criminal possession of stolen property and one count of unauthorized use of motor vehicle. Prosecutors say the car he was in was reported stolen from East Aurora.
Prosecutors say a judge issued a decision dismissing three counts of the indictment, which included an attempted murder count, which they appealed to an appellate court. "The Court denied our office's request to adjourn sentencing until after April 7th, when the appeal of this Court's decision to dismiss the highest counts in the indictment will be heard by the Appellate Division. Our office also joined the victim's request that the defendant receive the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for these Assault convictions. Unfortunately, the Court imposed a significantly lower sentence for this crime, which resulted in serious injuries to a police officer," says Erie County DA Mike Keane.
Prosecutors say Akbar pleaded guilty to two assault charges under the different legal theories of acting recklessly evincing a depraved indifference to human life and causing serious physical injuries to the victim during the commission of a felony.
