By Patrick Donachie
A Long Island woman has been charged with shooting a plainclothes NYPD officer with a pellet gun in downtown Jamaica, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Tiara Ferebee, 24, of Riverhead, L.I., was arraigned Sunday evening on charges of first-degree attempted assault, second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the DA.
At about 5:10 p.m. Oct. 12, NYPD Detective Adam Jangel was driving on Jamaica Avenue, near the intersection of 168th Street. Detective Mary Hamburg, Jangel’s partner, was sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle, according to the district attorney. They were driving in an unmarked police car and they were heading westbound, police said.
The officers were stopped at the corner when a brown Nissan with the window open drove eastbound parallel to the driver’s side window of the vehicle the officers were driving, the DA said. According to Brown, the two officers heard a loud noise and Jangel started bleeding from his forehead.
He was taken to Jamaica Hospital, according to police, and was listed in stable condition. District Attorney Brown said doctors found a small metal projectile in his forehead. Police investigated surveillance video of the incident and the DA said the video showed Ferebee sitting in the back seat of the passing Nissan. Police and the DA concluded that Jangel had been shot with a BB gun.
Hamburg was unharmed during the incident, police said, and there were no additional arrests as of press time. Brown said Ferebe had been arrested on Saturday evening, and was held on $1 million bond/$500,000 cash bail. Her next scheduled court date was Oct. 31. Prosecutors from the DA’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau are heading the case against Ferebee, according to Brown. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
