FACEOFF IN TIMES SQUARE
Wild driver hits & drags brave cop
A reckless driver who was zooming through Times Square so fast that the tires of his sports car were smoking struck and dragged a cop who bravely tried to stop him.
The disturbing encounter — which was caught entirely on video — unfolded in front of the NYPD substation at West 43rd Street as the black Mercedes-Benz C63 with New York tags roared down Seventh Avenue, doing doughnuts in the street, at around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
The police officer — identif ied by law-enforcement sources as Ian Wallace, 26 — can be seen in the footage walking out in front of the car with his left hand out as if motioning for the driver to stop.
His right hand, meanwhile, is reaching for his hip-holstered pistol.
But the wild driver swerves right, apparently trying to get around Wallace.
Undeterred, the officer plants his hands on the car’s hood and remains in front of it even as it pushes him through a pedestrian crosswalk.
The driver then swerves left and guns his engine again, this time getting around the courageous off icer, who is dragged a few steps and thrown to the ground as the car appears to sideswipe him.
Wallace lands on his knees and elbows, but gets up and can later be seen running after the car, with his gun drawn, along with another off icer.
“Get that car!” Wallace shouts.
The driver makes a right turn and zooms west on West 42nd Street, hitting several other cars along the way before disappearing from view.
The witness who shot the video can be heard marveling at the escape.
“That son just sideswiped all these cars,” the unidentif ied man shouts. “He made it out of Times Square.”
Wallace was taken to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s hospital with minor injuries to his back, arms, right leg and right hip, law-enforcement sources said.
A source called him “a brave off icer, doing what he’s doing.”
“He did the right thing,” the source added. “I would have done the same thing.”
Wallace declined to comment when reached by phone Sunday.
There were no arrests as of Sunday night, and the investigation was ongoing, police said.