Three men are now facing criminal indictments after a harrowing confrontation with New York City police turned violent when a driver repeatedly refused to surrender, ultimately striking an officer with enough force to launch him over the car’s hood and onto the pavement. The October incident unfolded in the Bronx and has since revealed far more than a simple case of a stolen vehicle.
The story begins where many car theft incidents do: a parking lot. Police spotted a suspicious vehicle near the intersection of East Tremont Avenue and Boston Road in the Bronx on October 25 and identified it as stolen. What followed was anything but routine. Instead of complying with officers’ commands to exit the vehicle and surrender, the driver apparently decided to try his luck behind the wheel.
That driver, 29-year-old Sanlli Rodriguez, reportedly made the decision to floor it, striking NYPD Officer Joseph Parisi so forcefully that Parisi was thrown over the hood of the car and crashed down onto the street below. Parisi survived but walked away with pain, bruising, and significant swelling. It could have been far worse…