Crime & Safety

Queens Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Striking Police Officer with Car, DA Says

Detective suffered two broken legs during 'buy and bust' operation in Flushing.

A 26-year-old Flushing man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for striking an on-duty police officer with his car during a “buy and bust” drug sale, the Queens district attorney said.

The officer suffered two broken legs and a broken ankle during the December 2010 incident, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

Martin Garcia, who lives on 35th Avenue, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison by Queens Acting Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt on first-degree assault charges, the DA said.

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The defendant pleaded guilty to the incident on July 6.

“This case underscores yet again the dangerous nature of police work and the sacrifices that our police officers make in serving and protecting our city,” Brown said.

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Late last year, police were conducting a “buy and bust” operation at the corner of 147th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing.

At that time, an undercover officer set up a drug deal with a woman who offered to sell him nine bags of marijuana for $100, the DA said.

The woman arranged for the defendant to conduct the sale and, a short while later, he arrived in Flushing in a tan 2001 Ford Escape, Brown said. The officer entered the vehicle and Garcia offered to sell him the marijuana.

Once the sale was completed, the officer got out of the vehicle and signaled for his field team to arrest Garcia, the DA said.

An unmarked police car pulled in front of Garcia’s vehicle and blocked him in. Three officers approached his vehicle with their shields displayed around their necks and yelled, ‘Police, stop.”

The defendant reversed his car, pulled forward, jumped the curb and drive toward the officers on the sidewalk, Brown said.

During the incident, he ran over Detective Cleland Francis with the front driver’s side tire. The detective was treated for two broken legs and a broken right ankle at a Queens hospital, the DA said.


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