KEARNY –
A Kearny police officer attempting to stop a drag race opened fire on one of the vehicles when its driver attempted to run him over, authorities reported.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, which is handling the case, said the incident occurred at about 10:45 p.m. Saturday, June 13, after the officer came upon the racers on Sellers St., just off the Belleville Pike.
The officer, whose name has not been released, had exited his vehicle and was trying to intervene when at least one of the cars headed for and nearly hit him, authorities said. At that point, he reportedly discharged his firearm at the auto. “No one was struck or injured by the officer’s fire,” Prosecutor Gaetano Gregory said in a press release.
The KPD reported that the officer broadcast a description of two vehicles fleeing the scene, and responding Kearny units intercepted one on the Pike.
Driver Timoy D. Malcolm, 21, of Jersey City, was subsequently charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon — the car.
“Given that a firearm was discharged, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office was notified, as is standard protocol,” KPD Chief John Dowie told The Observer. “They took control of the scene and the investigation,” he noted.
