Third Suspect In Custody After NYPD Detective Shot in Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A third suspect is in custody as an NYPD detective is still recovering after being shot in the shoulder during a drug bust in Bushwick, Brooklyn on Tuesday evening.
Sources told CBS2 that the third suspect is in custody at the 83rd Precinct and is being questioned. The suspect has not yet been charged.
Around 6:15 p.m., an NYPD Narcotics detective and sergeant, both in plain clothes, were making an undercover heroin buy from two suspects in a car at Wilson Avenue and Troutman Street in Brooklyn, police officials said at the scene.
The officers identified themselves as police, and the suspect's vehicle backed up and struck a squad car, according to NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker.
"The detectives were stopping the car in front of them and they reversed to try to get away," one witness said.
The detective reached into the vehicle from the passenger's side and attempted to make an arrest, officials said. But with the officer partially inside the vehicle, the suspect accelerated forward and dragged the officer, Tucker said.
The sergeant and the detective then both fired their weapons and struck one suspect, officials said. The vehicle went on a short distance until it struck another vehicle, Tucker said.
The detective may have been struck by friendly fire, Tucker said.
"At that moment both the sergeant who was standing on the driver's side of the vehicle and the detective where he was, fired their weapons," Tucker told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez. "So the detective was hit in the shoulder, apparently by a shot that came from his colleague."
The officer was struck in his left shoulder, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported.
Moments later, the driver of the van crashed into another car, police said.
The suspect who was shot — identified as Oscar Vera, 45 — was wounded in the leg and wrist, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center, sources said. The suspect was expected to survive. Vera has 58 prior arrests and five prior incarcerations, officials said. Vera has been charged with assault of a police officer, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal sale of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
The second man who was apprehended — identified as Geraldo Rodriguez, 51 — has 17 prior arrests and was incarcerated four times,officials said.
It is not clear if the suspects were armed or if they fired any shots.
"Right now it is an active crime scene and they have not found a gun as of yet inside the car," Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
The officer is expected to make a full recovery and was reported to be doing well as of Wednesday afternoon.
As of Wednesday afternoon, police were still patrolling the surrounding area in Bushwick, guarding over the crime scene as the investigation continued.
