CBS2 Exclusive: Gas Station Attendant Rushes To Help Cop Dragged By Car In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A manhunt is underway for the driver police say dragged an NYPD officer during a traffic stop in Queens.
Investigators say just before 2 a.m. Saturday the officer stopped the driver of a Nissan Altima after he blew a red light at Guy Brewer Boulevard in Rochdale.
They say the driver sped off with the officer hanging on for about 200 feet, before collapsing in the intersection by North Conduit Avenue.
Surveillance video shows the Nissan speed by a gas station. The attendant drops his broom and runs after it, followed by another person in the middle of the street and a third who leaves his car at the pump.
"The car was coming from that side, that block, and the cop was dragging behind them," station attendant Sunny Singh told CBS2's Ali Bauman in an exclusive interview.
"His arm was in the window and he got dragged by them," he said. "He was on the left side. I think he got stuck in the window."
The officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries to his hand and face.
"I was just shocked. His eyes was closed. I asked him, 'Are you OK?' He was like, 'Yeah, I'm OK,'" Singh said.
"It's crazy. It's crazy if a cop's not safe, what are you going to think of you and me?" said Rochdale resident Bobby Sendhu.
He has since been released.
"Four, five hours later, he came in the store. I asked him, 'Are you OK?' He said, 'Yeah, I'm OK,' and then he showed me his arms. He had scratches on his arms," Singh said.
Police found the car abandoned about a half-mile away, but the search continues for the male driver and a male and female passenger, all in their 20s.
Investigators said the car was registered to a rental company.