Video shows the moment an NYPD officer fired three shots at a vehicle believed to be connected to several high-end robberies as it took off down a Manhattan sidewalk, nearly hitting pedestrians attempting to evade arrest.
CCTV footage shows several unmarked police vehicles pull up next to a black BMW parked on West 28th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues around 1:20 a.m. on Oct. 11 outside of the ritzy Pergola eatery and hookah bar.
The vehicle had matched the description of a car tied to several robberies from several high-end diners and jewelry stores. Police had run the plates, which did not match the Beemer.
Video shows uniformed officers attempting to box the BMW in, but desperate to escape, the driver pops the curb, hits the gas and takes off down the sidewalk.
The vehicle sends several unsuspecting pedestrians standing outside the restaurant fleeing out of the way, narrowly escaping injury as they get inside the front door just in time, the dramatic footage shows.
At that moment NYPD Officer Corey Titus can be seen firing three shots at the BMW, which struck the car’s front windshield.
In Officer Titus’ bodycam footage, you can hear the people outside yell as the car can be heard revving its engine. He fires the shots just as the car speeds back toward the front driver’s side of the windshield. The video cuts out as he begins his pursuit.
No people were shot in the encounter, cops said.
The vehicle made it about a block before it crashed and hit a pole, sending the driver and two passengers running on foot, police sources said. Police recovered a 9 mm handgun in the car, which was covered with shattered glass and stained with blood.
One of the suspects — Wilson Mendez, 19, of the Bronx — was nabbed after a short chase and taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts to his face. It’s not clear whether he was the driver or one of the passengers. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
The other two fled on foot.
The suspects are believed to be a part of a vicious high-end robbery ring who call themselves “OED” for “Own Every Dollar” and are affiliated with the notorious Trinitarios gang in the Bronx. They are suspected in at least one homicide, sources said.
A Manhattan cop described the roughly 20-member group to The Post as “vicious.”
It was the second time an organized robbery incident was connected to Pergola after a 34-year-old man had $100,000 worth of jewelry — including an Audemars Piguet watch — stolen from him when he left the restaurant early Aug. 19.
Other incidents that are believed to be part of the pattern include the Sept. 16 heist at the Upper East Side Chinese restaurant Philippe Chow, where robbers stole a Rolex wristwatch from a man dining outdoors on Sept. 16, shooting him in the leg in the process.
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