‘Remarkable’ officer fighting for his life

The officer was critically injured after being dragged by a driver in a stolen vehicle.

NEWYORK » A police officer critically injured when he was dragged by a driver in a stolen car was fighting for his life on Monday.

Officer Dalsh Veve responded to a report of gunshots in Brooklyn on Saturday night, but the sound turned out to be fireworks. Veve approached a parked sedan, which turned out to be stolen, and the driver sped away. Veve was caught on the vehicle for about two blocks before he was freed and fell to the street.

Police officials said it’s unclear how he was dragged, but he apparently was holding on with one arm and fired off two gunshots. The car crashed, and the driver and other people inside fled.

Veve, a member of an anti-crime unit whose officers work in plainclothes and look out for robberies, stolen cars and burglaries, has been on the police force nine years. He has a 2-year-old daughter, and his wife has been by his side at the hospital, police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said, calling him a “remarkable cop.”

“He was an extremely active cop,” O’Neill said. “His fellow officers have tremendous respect for him.”

Police said the 15-yearold driver later walked into the same hospital early Sunday with a gunshot wound to his face and was in serious condition.

Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said police expect to charge the teen with attempted murder, but it was unclear whether he’d be charged as an adult.

There were three other people in the car, and police say a 17-year-old boy was cooperating and had told them much of the narrative. The other passengers, 18- and 19-year-old women, were arrested on charges of hindering prosecution.

Police were are pulling surveillance footage of what happened.