Assisted Authorities In Stopping B’wick Shooter
A Bushwick resident came to the aid of police after a man suspected of selling drugs opened fire on pursuing officers last Thursday, Jan. 16, authorities stated.
Darren Moore, 25, of East Williamsburg was arrested and charged with several counts of attempted murder, weapons possession, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint noted cocaine was found on Moore’s person.
Police officials said the incident went down at about 11:30 a.m. last Thursday, when officers responded to a reported drug deal at the corner of Garden Street and Flushing Avenue, within Bushwick’s 83rd Precinct.
When officers approached Moore for questioning, he gave chase south on Garden Street, reports stated. Over the course of the four-block pursuit, Moore reached into his waistband turned around and fired one round from his Browning .380 handgun, police said.
The shot missed, and police tackled the suspect, who dropped his gun in the fracas. Seeing this, resident Osvaldo Valdez kicked the suspect’s gun away from the melee and entered the fray himself, helping police to subdue Moore, according to published reports.
“I think he saved this officer’s life,” 83rd Precinct Community Council President Barbara Smith told this paper.
The precinct council will honor Valdez with a special ceremony at its next meeting, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the precinct’s Bleecker Street stationhouse.
Neither the officers nor bystanders sustained any injuries, but the arresting officers were treated for trauma at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center it was noted.
