NYPD OFFICER INDICTED FOR RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT
FOR FIRING AT FLEEING VEHICLE
Shooting Occurred on Crowded Street During Rush Hour
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a New York City Police Officer has been indicted on second-degree Reckless Endangerment for firing his gun at a fleeing car in a busy Bronx intersection during rush hour.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly fired six times at a vehicle fleeing from a car stop at 6:30 in the evening, while multiple people were walking on the street and there was rush-hour traffic. This created a substantial risk of serious physical injury to the pedestrians and drivers.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Richard Delahanty, 29, was arraigned today before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Beth Beller on an indictment charging second-degree Reckless Endangerment, an A misdemeanor. He is due back in court on May 18, 2022.
According to the investigation, On February 16, 2021, at approximately 6:25 p.m., Police Officer Richard Delahanty and two partners, all assigned to Public Safety in the 44th Precinct, were on patrol in an unmarked police car travelling north on Gerard Avenue when they saw a gray Dodge Charger with excessive tinted windows and loud exhaust. Officer Delahanty, the driver of the police vehicle, activated lights and siren and attempted to pull the Charger over. The Charger’s windows and windshield were darkly tinted, such that none of the officers could see inside the car during their interaction with it. The Charger slowed to a stop on East 167th Street and when the officers were exiting their vehicle to approach, the Charger sped away and led the officers on a brief chase eastward on East 167th Street toward the Grand Concourse.
The officers caught the Charger at East 167th Street and Walton Avenue and exited their vehicles to approach. The Charger then reversed, executed a K-turn, and drove past where Officer Delahanty was standing. As Officer Delahanty reached towards the door, his hand got caught in the partially opened window causing a laceration. As the Charger drove away, Officer Delahanty fired his police-issued pistol six times, with civilians on the street running away and those in nearby vehicles ducking for cover.
The driver of the Charger, Luis Cabrera, 28, was arrested hours later and charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle. He pleaded guilty to that charge and paid a $200 fine.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys John Oxenreiter and Cassie Perez of the Public Integrity Bureau, under the supervision of Omer Wiczyk, Chief of the Public Integrity Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, Chief of the Investigations Division. District Attorney Clark thanked Ilya Kharkover, Deputy Chief of the Organized Criminal Activities Bureau, for his work in the investigation.
District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Robert Simms and Sergeant Bruno Pomponio of the NYPD Force Investigation Division for their assistance in the case.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
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