NYPD Taser takes down a gunman
A Taser-toting cop ended a lifethreatening Saturday morning showdown by taking down an armed driver who shoved his loaded revolver into a second officer’s chest, police said.
The wild predawn arrest of dazed suspect Amado Zubidi, 28, inside his White Dodge Caravan came three weeks after the vehicle was involved in a road-rage shooting near the George Washington Bridge. Police identified the car by its license plate about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, setting the confrontation in motion, cops said.
“I can’t stress enough how dangerous this incident was, and how tragic it could have turned out,” said NYPD Capt. Aaron Edwards. “This is as close as any police officer can come. … This was very bad.”
Cops looking for the Caravan spotted the vehicle parked on the Lower East Side and followed the car when the driver pulled away, police said. The tailing officers called for backup when the car parked again outside a Columbia St. building, and four officers surrounded the Caravan.
According to police, Zubidi became evasive and antsy as cops ordered him out of the car. When two of the officers moved to yank him from the front seat, he reached down for what turned out to be a fiveshot, .38-caliber revolver.
Zubidi suddenly shoved the gun against one cop’s chest, prompting a second officer to blast the suspect with his Taser. Zubidi was quickly disarmed and arrested.
Zubidi, wearing in an insideout Tshirt, was marched stonefaced from the 7th Precinct stationhouse hours after his arrest. He was charged with attempted murder and gun possession, police said.
Police said shots were fired from the same white vehicle during an April 28 road-rage gunfire confrontation in Washington Heights.