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An unarmed man was shot and killed by a New York police detective early Thursday after the man had been pulled over by two police cars in Queens, N.Y., authorities said.
Noel Polanco, 22, was on his way home to Corona, N.Y., from his job at the Ice Lounge in Astoria Thursday morning when he was shot at about 5:15 a.m. He had offered a ride to a colleague, bartender Diana Deferrari, and another woman, who was an off-duty police officer, according to law enforcement sources. All three lived in the same part of Queens.
NBC New York
Noel Polanco, 22, was shot and killed by an NYPD officer after he was pulled over early Thursday morning.
As they headed home on the Grand Central Parkway near LaGuardia Airport, Polanco was pulled over after cutting off what turned out to be an unmarked police van.
When Polanco stopped the car, a detective approached the vehicle and asked him to show his hands, according to police.
Police said Polanco reached under his seat and appeared to grab for a yellow electric power drill with a black handle.
That's when the detective, Hassan Hamdy, 39, a 14-year veteran assigned to the Emergency Service Unit, fired a single shot through the passenger-side window and hit Polanco in the stomach. He was taken to New York Hospital Queens, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Passenger claims incident was police 'road rage'
Sources said the detective may have thought Polanco was reaching for a gun. But Deferrari, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, said his hands were on the steering wheel "at all times" and that the officers were angry when they pulled him over.
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"This was an act of road rage by the police because my friend cut him off, cut off the police," she told reporters Thursday. "The police proceeded to chase us, sticking their middle finger at us and screaming obscenities at the car."
No gun was recovered from the car.
The off-duty police officer in the car, who was in the backseat, told investigators she was asleep when the shooting happened.
Polanco's mother, Cecelia Reyes, said she demands justice for her son.
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"They're just gonna take my son like that ... like he's some kind of criminal ... 22 years old, never got in trouble. I want justice for my son," sobbed Reyes. "I'm not gonna let his memory stay like this. He was not a bad kid."
Polanco served in the U.S. Army for four years, enlisting in April 2008. He was assigned to the 1156th Engineer Company headquartered in Kingston, N.Y.
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"He actually joined the Army because he wanted to be a cop," said Noel De La Rosa, a friend of Polanco. "He said, 'Why don't I do this for a couple of years, and then I'll join the force.'"
Another friend, Tito Cordero, said Polanco returned from a tour awhile back and in addition to bartending, had been working at a Honda dealership detailing cars.
"He worked hard, two, three jobs," said Cordero. "He was a quiet, good kid. There's no aggressiveness in this kid."
Reyes said her son wanted to become a police officer after serving in the National Guard. She says she plans to hire an investigator to review the case.
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Series of fatal NYPD shootings
The shooting Thursday is the latest in a series of fatal shootings by police officers in New York.
In August, New York police officers shot and killed a 51-year-old man wielding a kitchen knife in touristy Times Square. Following the incident, police said the man lunged at them.
Also in August, two officers shot and killed an armed man who had just killed a former co-worker outside the Empire State Building. During the incident, nine bystanders were injured by ricocheting bullets from officers' gunfire.
NBC News staff contributed to this report
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Funny how police are the only ones who get to be innocent until proven guilty. Everyone else is treated as guilty until proven innocent (or until you can pay some people off)
"He was reaching for a power drill" is the best B.S. the police could come up with on the fly I guess.... Why don't they just say, "We don't plan on an honest investigation of this shooting and we think the general public is too dumb to see through this B.S. excuse" I know the first thing I do when a cop has me pulled over and has his gun on me is to go for a power tool.... Personally, I always give police the benefit of the doubt but, this one is ridiculous.
The off-duty police officer in the car, who was in the backseat, told investigators she was asleep when the shooting happened.
Hmmmmm....
The police account makes no sense. Why would anyone reach under the fron seat for a drill? And how could the police even see that action? The witness in the front seat will give compelling testimony. The detective should go to Rikers. There are far too many instances of fatal shooting in NYC. Maybe they should raise their hiring and training standards. You can't put a hotheaded punk in a uniform and expect them to be professional.
These NYC police need to learn gun control. This is where the gun control crowd need to center their attenition!!!
NYC police needs more than gun control, they need mental help.
My heartfelt sympathies to this mom. Not only should this wannbe Rambo be fired he should be tried for murder or manslaughter! The guy's hands were on the steering wheel the whole time!
Well the article has the victims name and the female bartenders name..guess the female off duty police officer was still asleep when they were interviewing them on what happen...her name is not in article..is she over the age of 18 to have it printed???
Michael Moore has a movie opportunity here to make a documentary of police shootings in New York. Yeah, an in-depth look at violence on police and by police in the Big Apple. At first glance this doesn't bode well for "Big Blue", but all the fact aren't in yet.
No matter what the facts are, it's a tragedy. Even if the guy was reaching for a hand drill (you'd think it would have been somewhere on the driver side front seat, with finger prints), to be killed in that kind of accident is a real shame. If on the other hand, if it was a case of road rage triggered murder, then the officer will get convicted and go to prison.
The kid sounds like a good guy, a real shame.
Only innocent cops go to jail, the crooked ones go into politics.
This @!$%#!ng piece of sh!t of a cop. How are such scumbags allowed to join the police force? Who has the oversight on these idiots?
NYC is a safe city ??? I'm never gonna go there in that sh!thole. I'm a righteous person who strives for justice, if I'm gonna get into an argument with a stupid cop/detective/LEO for whatever reason (things happen, right?) then I have to fear for my life just because that dirty piece of sh!t cannot handle it.
Damn it, am I angry now. This cop deserves to be stripped off and beaten until every bone in his body is soft like his big fat ass. Break his damn stupid skul and flaten it out like a piece of sheet (sh!t) he is.
Maybe he was scared the kid was going to unscrew his bellybutton with the power drill....just making light. It really pisses me off too. As always though, the details are limited at present in this article and the quote from the cop could have gotten screwed up in the article. I'm betting we hear a bit more tomorrow...like, How the __— does a cop sleep in the back seat of an automobile and not wake up when the cops are running down the vehicle....I fall asleep on road trips all the time but i can garantee one thing. My entire family can be asleep on the road when I am driving but the instant I get on an off ramp slow down or stop every single one of them wakes up......everytime! If that lady sleep through that police rundown she needs to be drug tested. Even a baby will wake up when a car slows down. The body senses an outside force acting on it and will force you to wake up....almost like a reflex. I imagine if you were tired enough its possible but i doubt it.
Oh my, again. Something very wrong among some of New York's Finest. Major culling needed in the NYPD, so very sorry for the young man's family.
Well, this episode has an off duty cop as a witness in the victim's vehicle, so we'll see what happens in court. In the mean time, stay out of NYC is you don't want to get shot by a cop.
same old thing pigs killing we the people we need to all get together and stop this and take most powers from the pigs they lie kill us steal and i hate to tell you most unsolved muders are commited by the pigs death to all pigs
Here we go again. The NYPD being trigger happy. There moto is shoot first and let thew system get you off. Move over citizenry i am the law. I have the right to erase you from society. The butt plug will get off no doubt.
When Polanco stopped the car, a detective approached the vehicle and asked him to show his hands, according to police.
Police said Polanco reached under his seat and appeared to grab for a yellow electric power drill with a black handle.
I thought they said he had his hands on the wheel? The aggressors here are the cops that pulled him over for cuttintg them off. Beware the police!
And the off duty cop was asleep? Bull@!$%#. Don't cop play sirens when they pull you over. She's just protecting her friends in blue.
Unmarked van that was black more than likely. Cop woke up when the shot was fired I bet. Police training had her looking at crime scene to notice details. Being on the scene at the time it happened she should have been able to collaborate official story immediately. Didn't happen by news account.
Another case of the abuse of power. In Westerly RI the cops beat a man to death and so far have gotten away with it.
The man made a mistake and it cost him his life. When the Police tell you to do something just do it and if it is wrong then get a lawyer.
In this case the Police were justified in firing. Condolences to the Family
You are not using any critical thinking skills on this one are you?
And what mistake would that be?
Not doing what he was told to do and show his hands
What the Hll are you talking about? "Justified?!?!?!" He did exactly what the officer told him to do, according to the witness. The fact that the off duty officer went with the "sleeping" story further implies that she's covering something up for her cop brethren. If it was a justified shooting, the lady in the back seat would have attested to that right away.
This was an EXECUTION plain and simple.
Remember normal reactions can have deadly consquences. Guy is sleeping 4am, loud banging on door, picks up self-defence gun, opens door is shot by two men dressed in black with masks. What would you do in same situation? Police tactical team. They should be dressed in white. There is no need for black in this day and age with the electronics and night vision capabilities. The law doesn't need to sneak up because they represent justice not some Hollywood sterotype. There will probaly not be a way to prove anything one way or the other without a shadow of a doubt.
Keeping in mind that many police departments have changed from blue uniforms to black ones because "black is more intimidating."
A shotgun, assault rifle, 45 automatic, billyclub, taser,and mace isn't intimidating enough? They could be dressed as cupie dolls and be intimidating with all that hardware. Maybe they wear black because it is more slimming?
Bad enough the police in New York City cannot shoot straight( recent incident 9 bystanders hit by police bullets )
That the one time they do shoot straight they kill an unarmed motorist. Due no doubt to road rage. Condolences to the family of the victim.
I hope more information gets out. My only question is this; If the cop could identify a gigantic yellow drill that the kid was going for then why shoot him for grabbing a drill that you identified as a drill and not a gun? Wtf is he going to do? Unscrew your bellybutton. However, there is a high probability that the quote was "I mistook the drill for a gun" and NBC just screwed up the quote. If so they need to correct it. If not, that cop is clearly in the wrong and should lose his badge, gun and freedom.....that's murder whoever you are. Sup with these NYC cops lately? They are all twitchy and trigger happy.
The cop was on the passenger side. How could he have seen a drill under the driver's seat? Not to mention that you can't just store things under a driver seat and access them from the front. In most vehicles the mechanisms for moving the seat would be in the way. Are we supposed to believe that there was a drill under his legs that he keeps near his pedals? I doubt very much anybody would keep such a large item on the floor of the driver's seat.
This cop only found the drill after the fact and is hoping to hell that people buy his story.
we have to start realizing these PIGS in this country are way out of control. They are nothing but Violaters, Oppressers, and MURDERS. FACSIST A?#HOLES
ugh- when is this going to stop? Reaching for a power drill? Really? Off-duty cop asleep during the incident? Really? This wreaks.
Unfortunately, a New York cop shooting an unarmed civilian is not news.
Cops are crooked, that's why they are cops.
Bloomberg's gangbangers strike again!
There is no way that the officer could have seen anything under the man's seat before he searched the car. He shot through the passenger window. How can we be expected to believe that he could see under the driver seat from that angle - especially with a person in the passenger seat? Bull@!$%#. They searched the car afterwards and found a drill, then the cop conveniently made the report to look like the drill was mistaken for a gun. I'm surprised they didn't just throw a bag of weed on the floor too, to make it look like the kid was high as well! The poor kid was probably just reaching for his wallet and his ID.
And WTF is the deal with the off duty cop in the back seat? Nobody sleeps through being pulled over on the Grand Central - let alone driving on that pot hole ridden piece of highway. She's just trying to keep her job by playing stupid.