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Unarmed Army reservist shot dead by NYPD cop while reaching for drill at traffic stop
The Daily Mail Online ^ | October 5, 2012 | Emma Reynolds

Posted on 10/07/2012 6:36:02 AM PDT by Uncle Chip

An NYPD officer yesterday shot and killed an unarmed Army reservist as he went to pick up a drill after they stopped his car.

Noel Polanco, 22, was fired at when he cut off the police car near New York's LaGuardia Airport, after they shouted at him to put his hands up, a witness said.

Passenger Diane DeFerrari insisted Mr Polanco never even took his hands off the wheel and the police had acted out of 'road rage.'

Tragedy: Noel Polanco, 22, was shot dead by a police officer as he drove two passengers home from the bar where he works

Horrified: Passenger Diane DeFerrari, who worked at the Ice Lounge bar with Mr Polanco, said he was not given a chance to put his hands up before police shot him

Officers who had given terrifying chase in an unmarked vehicle screamed, 'Put up your hands!', and then shot Mr Polanco a split-second later, she said.

'It was simultaneous,' she added. 'There was a pop and Noel gasped.'

After the shooting, Ms DeFerrari, 36, said she and a backseat passenger, an off-duty NYPD officer, were ordered out and told to put their hands on the car. 'The cop said, "Your friend just shot himself",' said Ms DeFerrari. 'I didn’t dispute what I saw because I was afraid. They wouldn’t let me look at him.'

The officer riding in Mr Polanco’s car, 29-year-old Vanessa Rodriguez, was waving her police ID out the window just before the shooting, sources said.

Detective Hassam Hamdy insisted he pulled the trigger after Mr Polanco, from Queens, reached down for something that turned out to be a yellow-and-black power drill, a source told the Daily News.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: newyork; nypd; polanco
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To: NVDave
"Watch carefully as we will be told that this elite ESU force has not been trained in how to do traffic stops."

Interesting that Hamdy is wearing a U.S. Marine t-shirt in that recent photo. Wonder if he was ever in the Marines. Hopefully some reporter will do some digging into his record...if that's possible.

61 posted on 10/07/2012 11:08:10 AM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Yes he was and yes they did:

“Before becoming a police officer, Mr. Hamdy served four years in the Marine Corps, joining in 1992 and rising to the level of sergeant in an artillery division based out of Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina. He performed well there, his military records indicate, earning medals for good behavior and for performing his duties above and beyond what was required.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/nyregion/grief-and-anger-after-noel-polanco-is-fatally-shot-by-police.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0


62 posted on 10/07/2012 11:40:38 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Lancey Howard

Although I,more often than not,side with the cops in a situation like this I’m strongly inclined to take the other side in this case.


63 posted on 10/07/2012 11:41:28 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Ambassador Stevens Is Dead And The Chevy Volt Is Alive)
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To: Uncle Chip
"Before becoming a police officer, Mr. Hamdy served four years in the Marine Corps, joining in 1992 and rising to the level of sergeant in an artillery division"

So he was a DRILL Sergeant.

Sorry...couldn't resist.

And thanks for providing the info.

64 posted on 10/07/2012 11:57:15 AM PDT by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

That was a reach

You’re welcome


65 posted on 10/07/2012 12:00:13 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Uncle Chip
The autopsy and ballistics will be interesting.

Whoa... It almost sounds here like you are ready to wait for an investigation before crucfying the cop!
Congratulations.

66 posted on 10/07/2012 12:03:28 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard
Investigation -- yes.

Whitewash -- no.

Sleeping Beauty's silence tells me that it will be a Whitewash.

67 posted on 10/07/2012 12:31:29 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: muawiyah

So, which is it...a hit over a girl...a mob hit...the taliban in the NYPD? As I said...you are delusional.


68 posted on 10/07/2012 12:50:54 PM PDT by wtc911 (Amigo - you've been had.)
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To: wtc911

All the evidence points to exactly that ~ there is no evidence whatsoever that any one of the cops ~ and there were a lot of them on all sides ~ said anything like “Watch it he’s got a Black and Decker”


69 posted on 10/07/2012 1:05:31 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Lancey Howard
The cops were doing a maneuver I've seen Secret Service and FBI do HUNDREDS of times over on nearby I-95 on their way to Quantico.

They use the firing ranges there and they drive down to the site using large SUVs ~ and sometimes even trucks.

They weave in and out of traffic and never leave enough room in between their vehicles to allow someone to get between them. This is for practice for when they might need to do it for real.

This sort of thing in heavy traffic turns them into targets but don't tell them that everybody in Virginia is already armed to the teeth ~ they don't care ~ because they know that as long as they don't do a "Squat and Stop" it's more than likely nobody will shoot them ~ and they know that only because no one has done that yet.

We all know who they are. Still I'm sure a number of them think other drivers have no idea!

There have been road rage events in that area. A truck driver and a motorist got into a regular shooting match one day near the main bridge over the Occoquan.

From the viewpoint of the drivers in the convoy anyone attempting to change lanes into their lane would look like there was an attempt to 'cut them off' ~ and that's because everyone in the convoy but the lead driver does not view the lane changes as real ~ they don't even sense them.

The second driver who failed to keep up would see any car in the lane to the left as cutting him off.

I bet a good civil practice lawyer is going to be sitting there with an insurance adjuster at his side interrogating every officer present in a command interrogatory.

They will find out the cops were practicing high speed convoy protocols ~ which means they shot their victim without even any provocation ~ it wasn't him moving back and forth, it was them!

So, murder 2? All the cops in this one? Or just the shooter? GAZILLION DOLLAR AWARD FUR SHUR>

70 posted on 10/07/2012 1:20:49 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Uncle Chip
Sleeping Beauty's silence tells me that it will be a Whitewash.

Sleeping Beauty is only suspended at this point. She is still on the police force. Therefore, she has to keep her mouth shut and allow all communications with the press and public to come through official channels. Wait... You didn't know this?

/headshake

71 posted on 10/07/2012 1:21:27 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: muawiyah

That’s an interesting story, but this was not the Secret Service. This was a SWAT team that was in Brooklyn for the purpose of executing a warrant. Also, it was 5:00 in the morning and I doubt the traffic was especially heavy at that hour.


72 posted on 10/07/2012 1:25:45 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: Uncle Chip

The guy has a drill in the seat next to him. He throws on the breaks and the drill slides onto the floorboard, possibly under the break pedal. He reaches down to move it because it is a hazard to have something sliding around under the break pedal.


73 posted on 10/07/2012 1:26:54 PM PDT by Walmartian (I'm their leader. Which way did they go?)
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To: Lancey Howard
She is still on the police force. Therefore, she has to keep her mouth shut and allow all communications with the press and public to come through official channels.

and those official channels first said that she was awake holding her ID outside the windows just before the shooting. And then after they heard what she had to say about the incident those same official channels decided that she was really asleep the whole time until after the shot went off.

So who is lying??? Is she lying or are the official channels lying???

According to you it is the official channels and I tend to agree.

74 posted on 10/07/2012 2:23:43 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Walmartian
He had a passenger in the seat next to him. But it is possible that when he stopped the drill that was under the seat did slide forward and he reached down to push it back.

However, if you have been on the force for 14 years and driving for 20 you would know that this is happens often to vehicles that are stopped suddenly and you wouldn't be shooting drivers for pushing things back under the seat.

And then there is the matter of ballistics. If his hands are both on the steering wheel, a shot to the abdomen from the passenger side window where the officer was is easy. But if he is reaching under the seat as the officer claims, the shot would have likely hit his arm or side -- not his abdomen.

75 posted on 10/07/2012 2:43:51 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Lancey Howard
Do you have a story about the warrant? Anybody get a picture of it?

The SS and FBI around here DO THEIR GAME with or without heavy traffic ~ they just do it.

I doubt these sharp eyed protectors of the public interest had a warrant ~ and they could have simply taken down the plate number and looked up the driver later on.

It was a hit; it was stupidity; it was a jihadi after an Army reservist; it was somebody upset about his girlfriend; it was maybe somebody upset about his boyfriend; whatever you want it to be, that's what it could very well be, even officers needing more time on the range so they learn to deal with triggers.

And no traffic at 5AM around LGA? What is this?

76 posted on 10/07/2012 2:54:33 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Lancey Howard
Do you have a story about the warrant? Anybody get a picture of it?

The SS and FBI around here DO THEIR GAME with or without heavy traffic ~ they just do it.

A Few months back we had a jihadi driving up and down I-95 in the wee hours of the morning shooting at the Pentagon, military recruiters, Quantico, various other military installations around here, so I know those guys do that stuff too ~ so there's a war on.

I doubt these sharp eyed protectors of the public interest had a warrant ~ and they could have simply taken down the plate number and looked up the driver later on.

It was a hit; it was stupidity; it was a jihadi after an Army reservist; it was somebody upset about his girlfriend; it was maybe somebody upset about his boyfriend; whatever you want it to be, that's what it could very well be, even officers needing more time on the range so they learn to deal with triggers.

And no traffic at 5AM around LGA? What is this?

77 posted on 10/07/2012 2:57:54 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: muawiyah

It’s like talking politics with a moonie at the airport.


78 posted on 10/07/2012 3:00:26 PM PDT by wtc911 (Amigo - you've been had.)
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To: Uncle Chip
and those official channels first said that she was awake holding her ID outside the windows

Wrong. That item was in the first (Daily News) story and was attributed to alleged "police sources", ie, NOT official channels. But thanks for being an audio-vusal aid for why it's wise to wait for a thorough investigation to be complete before jumping to knee-jerk conclusions and convicting the cop.

Anyway - - yet again - - who cares if she was or wasn't waving a stinking ID out the back window of a car that had to be forced over at 5:00am after reckless driving and an attempt to flee? A cop is going to stroll up and examine this alleged ID? Really?

79 posted on 10/07/2012 3:07:22 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: wtc911
You seem to be oblivious to the fact your Freeper name takes on the exact same form as the guys and gals at the Obama Truth Squad.

There's 3 initials, 3 numbers from a significant historic event. The top pukes over there get that sort of netname. Those a little down the Obamugabe daisy chain might have to accept '123', or maybe even '666'.

So, how do you expect to be spoken to?

You might be dealt with differently around here if you got a new name. BTW, the fact you skip right on past the fact the shooter has a typical Moslem name is also taken into consideration as we weigh the factoids in this case.

80 posted on 10/07/2012 3:11:04 PM PDT by muawiyah
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