MANHATTAN – Most cops will tell you there is no ‘routine’ traffic stop— and what unfolded Tuesday afternoon is evidence of that— as investigators say a driver fleeing a stop in East Harlem drove his car on the sidewalk to get away from from police— with one officer firing a shot at the vehicle before a wrong-way crash outside Mount Sinai Hospital.
Madison Avenue was shut down between East 98th and 99th Streets for hours Tuesday afternoon, as detectives and crime scene technicians combed the scene outside of the hospital for evidence while a NYPD helicopter hovered overhead.
Investigators tell Upper East Site the chain of events started around 3:09 pm when uniformed officers tried to perform a car stop at East 102nd Street and Park Avenue– the driver took off, police say, driving recklessly on the sidewalk before turning the wrong-way down Madison Avenue and crashing into two cars outside Mount Sinai Hospital near East 99th Street minutes later.
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At some point during the traffic stop and the suspects’ getaway, police say one NYPD officer fired a shot while trying to apprehend the suspects— images and video from the scene on Madison Avenue showed the a bullet hole in the windshield of the suspect’s car.
Police say the driver and passenger of the car ran away from the scene— no description of them has been released.
One officer was treated for minor injuries, police say, and no other injuries were reported.
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