BY ASHA MAHADEVAN
In a scene straight from an action movie, U.S. marshals serving a warrant at a home in Springfield Gardens exchanged shots with their suspect late Tuesday night, according to published reports.
Marshals surrounded the house at 144th Drive and 175th Street at about 11 p.m. and broke down the door with a battering ram, reports said. The suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest and was the first to open fire. The marshals returned fire and the suspect was wounded in his left hand. Witnesses told the New York Daily News that after being injured, the suspect threw his gun outside his apartment and surrendered to the marshals.
The suspect, Oswald Lewis, was wanted by the DEA for cocaine smuggling and by the NYPD for a stabbing in Brooklyn, according to published reports, and had been on the run for more than two decades.
The shootout terrified the residents in the neighboring houses, with one witness telling the New York Post that it was like a movie. “It was so surreal,” she said.
The suspect was taken to Jamaica Hospital for treatment, reports said. None of the marshals or NYPD cops acting as backup were hurt.
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