A brave NYPD officer was ‘dragged’ along the street while trying to apprehend a moped driver during an operation targeting scooter-related crime on Thursday.
A set of pictures taken at the scene captured the harrowing moment when the officer, whose identity isn’t yet known, confronted the suspected criminal.
According to the NYPD, the 18-year-old driver attempted ‘to flee’ the authorities. The photos show the suspected criminal desperately leaning forward on his bike.
The intrepid cop, however, refuses to let go or weaken his grip around the driver’s waist- even as he’s towed pulled over the rough street.
As the pictures progress, it appears that the biker loses his balance and the police officer is eventually able to wrestle him to the ground.
The final image in the series shows the moped driver sprawled flat on the ground, with the daring officer pinning the suspected criminal down with his knee and placeing cuffs around his wrists.
The cop’s pant leg is torn and tattered from where it was dragged along the street.
The moped operator was later charged with reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
The officer sustained bruises and abrasions to his legs and arms from his heroic action.
Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations, posted the pictures of the incident to his X.com account on Friday night.’Not on our watch!’ Daughtry wrote.
‘Addressing lawlessness and community quality of life concerns, Times Square Public Safety, MidtownSouth and Midtown North precincts conducted a joint Moped Operation.’
Daughtry went on to state that they had successfully confiscated ’39 mopeds/motorcycles,’ and that they had issued ’40 summonses.’
At the end of his post, the Deputy Commissioner said: ‘Special thank you to the brave officers of these commands.’
Daughtry went on to state that they had successfully confiscated ’39 mopeds/motorcycles,’ and that they had issued ’40 summonses.’
At the end of his post, the Deputy Commissioner said: ‘Special thank you to the brave officers of these commands.’
Thursday’s operation was part of an ongoing effort by the NYPD to crack down on the illegal use of moped and scooters, which are increasingly being used in crimes throughout the city.
Earlier in the week, Deputy Commissioner Daughtry posted another series of pictures to X.com, in which a pile of confiscated illegal bikes is shown.
In one of the pictures, Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Edward A. Caban proudly stand before the heap of sized vehicles.
In another picture, a bulldozer trundles over the bikes, flattening them.
‘CRUSHING crime and lawlessness,’ Daughtry captioned the pictures.
He wrote: ‘Today, thanks to the leadership of @NYCMayor and @NYPDPC, many of the illegal motorized scooters and bikes seized by your hardworking NYPD officers were crushed for scrap metal.’
He added: ‘If you think you can commit crime, operate an illegal vehicle, or ride recklessly in the five boroughs, think again!’
Last week, Mayor Adams boasted that the NYPD has seized more 41,000 illegal vehicles over this past year- a state record.
On his X.com account, the mayor uploaded a video in which two bulldozers can be seen crushing the confiscated bikes.
‘Illegal and dangerous vehicles, like mopeds and scooters, have been terrorizing our people for far too long,’ the Mayor Adams captioned the video.
According to the Mayor’s office, in the first five months of 2024, there has been a total of 79 robberies using illegal scooters and mopeds- eight times the figure from two years ago.
In May, there was an uptick in thefts and felony assaults, which has been ‘largely fueled by offenders fleeing crime scenes on illegal, unregistered motorized scooters, bikes, or other vehicles.’
In response, Mayor Adams announced a crusade against unlawful possession of vehicles.
‘Mopeds and scooters are not only endangering pedestrians when they are driven recklessly, but we have also seen an exponential increase in criminals using them to ride around and snatch property from New Yorkers.’
In early June, a teenage Venezuelan migrant opened fire on two NYPD officers after they tried to pull him over on his scooter.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, was approached by police as he drove the unregistered motorbike the wrong way down a one-way street in Queens.
The migrant responded by opening fire on the officers with an unlicensed gun, striking one cop in the leg while the other sustained a shot to their bulletproof vest. He then fled the scene on foot at around 1.40am, the NYPD said.
Mata, who illegally entered the US at Eagle Pass, Texas, last July, allegedly told police that he is part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
The ‘coordinator’ of the ‘snatch and grab’ gang is known to provide their members with mopeds that are used in robberies, including stealing cell phones.
The notorious gang has been referred to as ‘an invading criminal army’ by US lawmakers and a member is suspected of the brutal murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Mata is believed to be a member of the gang based on his social media posts and a distinctive tattoo on his arm of a clock attached to an anchor, which is known to be tied to the group, the sources said.
The sources also told the New York Post that Mata first checked into a shelter on Ditmars Boulevard in Queens along with three other people, but he hadn’t been living there since May 15.
Officers pursued Mata after noticing that he was riding the scooter without a helmet, in the wrong direction, without a license plate, on a crosswalk filled with pedestrians, prosecutors said.
The NYPD said officers chased him for ‘several blocks’ after he discarded the scooter and jumped on a two-wheeler.
A third officer, Sgt. Nicholas Condos, joined the pursuit as Mata pointed his gun and shot Officers Christopher Abreu and Richard Yarusso, both 26. The gun he used was recovered at the scene.
On Wednesday, law enforcement sources confirmed that the .380-caliber Hi-Point pistol belonged to a woman who purchased the firearm in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2017. She said she did not know it had been stolen.
During the violent altercation, the teen was shot in the ankle. He underwent surgery early Monday morning at New York-Presbyterian Queens.
In February, New York City police officers arrested seven Venezuelan migrants who allegedly stole wallets and cellphones from 62 women with the help of their mopeds.
One of the most shocking thefts involved a migrant on a moped dragged a 52-year-old woman along a Big Apple street to steal her phone – a robbery caught on surveillance footage.
The scooter thief reportedly stole her bag, phone, credit cards, keys, glasses, $60 cash and her ID last month in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn.
The suspects arrested were stealing the iPhones to use the Apple Pay feature and use the owners’ credit cards to buy items, police said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the scooter drivers were paid $100 a day and the phone snatchers were paid between $300-$600 per phone.
‘These perpetrators are part of a sophisticated criminal enterprise made up of immigrants who have recently arrived in the United States,’ said Kenny. ‘This network of thieves predominantly lives in the migrant shelter system.’
NYPD Commissioner Eddie Caban said, ‘They’re essentially ghost criminals.’