Police chase in NYC, Long Island ends with driver dead and 7 officers, civilian taken to hospitals

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — A police pursuit that began in New York City ended on Long Island with the shooting death of the driver, and seven police officers and a civilian were taken to hospitals for treatment, police said.

Patrick Ryder, commissioner of the Nassau County police department, told reporters Saturday that the chase began after New York City officers tried to stop a driver in the Jamaica neighborhood in the borough of Queens shortly after 11 p.m. Friday. The driver tried to ram the two police officers, striking them before fleeing, Ryder said.

Officers in Nassau County boxed in the driver at one point, but he hit two police cars and forced two officers to dive out of the way, he said. The vehicle went further down the road, hitting another police car, turned around and went the wrong way before turning around again and hitting a civilian car.

The driver’s vehicle went out of control and stopped on a berm in Massapequa, Ryder said. Officers tried to get the driver to get out of the car, but he refused to comply and was killed by gunfire, Ryder said.

Ryder described the driver as reckless, saying his vehicle was “flying.”

“He jumped onto oncoming traffic ... he’s ramming police car, he’s ramming civilian cars, and he lost control of his own vehicle,” he said.

Five police officers from Nassau County and two from New York City were taken to hospitals, along with the driver of the civilian car, Ryder said. One officer was struck by the vehicle, two were injured diving for safety and three were taken for treatment of trauma after the police shooting, he said.

The driver’s name wasn’t immediately released. The state attorney general’s office was notified and is investigating, Ryder said. Video was being collected from the city and from places along the highway, as well as from officers’ body-worn cameras, he said.