Teen Charged In NYPD Officer Car-Dragging Case

EAST FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder and assault in connection with the case of an NYPD officer who was dragged for two-and-a-half blocks by a car, police said Friday.

Authorities believe that Justin Murrell, from Brownsville, was behind the wheel of the car that dragged officer Dalsh Veve earlier this month. An update on Veve's condition was not given; he was in critical condition last week.

Two girls who police believe were also in the car that night have been charged with obstruction of justice, 18-year-old Jeronda Oliver and 19-year-old Eboni Clinton.

Six plainclothes officers were responding to a report of shots fired on the night of Saturday, June 10, and Veve was talking to people sitting in a black Honda sedan that was parked near Tilden Avenue and East 53rd Street, according to police.

Then, police say they noticed the car speeding away and Veve being dragged along with it down Tilden Avenue.

The boy "allegedly sped away in a stolen car after the officer approached and then weaved the vehicle to cause the officer, who was attempting to hang on, to be thrown off and suffer severe head trauma," a press release from the Brooklyn District Attorney's office said.

According to police, Veve was able to fire his gun twice before freeing himself from the car.

The car eventually crashed on East 53rd Street between Snyder and Church Avenue, police said, and then was abandoned. Later that night, the 15-year-old suspect walked into Brookdale Hospital with a gunshot wound, which police say they believe came from Veve firing his weapon.

"The defendant in this case allegedly tried to escape during a lawful stop and, in doing so, seriously injured a dedicated police officer," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a press release. "This appalling and senseless criminal behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent because we simply won’t allow anyone to put our police officers in harm’s way. My thoughts and prayers are with Officer Veve and his family."

Image: Officer Veve and his wife, Esther, courtesy of the Veve family.