NYPD detective wounded by friendly fire trying to apprehend suspect

WHITESTONE, Queens (WABC) — An attempt to apprehend a career criminal following a carjacking ended with an NYPD detective being struck by friendly fire in Queens on Friday morning, officials said.

The shooting happened just before 9 a.m. near the Whitestone Expressway and 22nd Road in the Whitestone section.

According to investigators, the suspect approached a vehicle parked just off a service road, announced a robbery and displayed what appeared to be a firearm to the driver.

The driver got out of the car, and the suspect assaulted him. The victim managed to call 911 as the suspect took off. The suspect then realized the victim still had the keys, so he returned to the scene, colliding with another vehicle in the process.

The suspect assaulted the victim a second time, got the keys and took off again, but police officers arrived as he turned on 22nd Road and attempted to block him.

A team of undercover narcotics detectives who happened to be driving by also assisted.

“Detectives assigned to Queens South Narcotics see the patrol officers attempting to make the apprehension and try to assist by blocking the car in,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

During the confrontation, three patrol officers assigned to the 109th precinct opened fire, striking the narcotics detective twice in the hand and leg.

“We’ll get the trajectory of who fired what round, but what it appears it here was a friendly fire incident,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. “The narcotics detectives were in the front of the car, the 109 patrol was in the rear.”

The injured detective was rushed to the Jamaica Hospital and has emerged from a successful surgery on his leg. He will have surgery on his arm Friday afternoon, police said. His name has not been released.

The 28-year-old suspect, identified as Kevin Dubuisson, has 10 unsealed prior arrests and was out on parole, Tisch said. He was arrested again on Thursday for fare evasion on the subway but released on a desk appearance ticket.

Police said he is also believed to have stolen a yellow taxi idling at First Avenue and East 33rd Street Thursday night, drove one block and hit a cyclist before ditching the vehicle and fleeing.

Police said the suspect allegedly stole another vehicle shortly after from a nearby parking garage, drove it for a short distance before crashing the vehicle and fleeing on foot.

Dubuisson’s other previous charges include an attempted robbery in Brooklyn, criminal possession of a weapon in Midtown, a 2016 assault on a police officer and a domestic violence assault. On Friday night he was charged with with robbery, assault, menacing, attempted robbery, and two counts of attempted assault, according to police.

Prior to Friday’s incident, Commissioner Tisch said Dubuisson attempted to steal a car from a gas station on Parsons Boulevard and 20th Avenue, but was scared off by employees there. He also attempted to carjack a woman just steps away from the gas station, but the victim’s husband ran outside and scared him off, she said.

A mechanic who fought off the man described in more detail the dramatic struggle with the suspect.

“The glass was up to here my head like this you know what I’m saying? That guy tried to grab my customer’s car if your car here it’s like my car,” he said.

In one case, the mechanic said he reached through the front window to turn off the ignition and the suspect closed the window on his neck before the mechanic got a colleague to help get the door open. Then, he says the suspect stuck his hand in his pocket as if to suggest he had a gun, and walked off in the direction of the Whitestone Expressway.

“This chain of events, which could have ended quite differently, began because a career criminal, a person who has terrorized victims for nearly a decade, was allowed to continue his violent spree,” Tisch said. “It is unconscionable that a violent predicate felon, who pled guilty to two robberies and was out on the streets to continue his crimes today. That is criminal justice reform for you.”