A former NYPD officer who paralyzed a young businessman after shooting him with his police-issued weapon in a horrific fit of drunken road rage was sentenced to 10 years in prison in New Jersey this week.
At his Monday sentencing in Superior Court, Camden, N.J., Hieu Tran received an agreed-upon term for the May 17, 2024, incident that rendered Kishan Patel a quadriplegic. The three-year press officer for the NYPD lost his job last month when he pleaded guilty to attempted murder.
During a perceived driving dispute, Tran pulled up alongside the victim by a red light near Route 73 and Cooper Road in Camden County and fired several shots through his windows, striking the 30-year-old Patel in the back of his head. He then roared on through the intersection and hit a nurse in another vehicle, causing her severe injuries, and fled the scene, according to court docs.
Patel had just gotten engaged and was managing his family’s businesses before the horrific incident. It’s not clear whether he will ever walk or speak again, according to his attorney Joseph Marrone. He broke several vertebrae and sustained an anoxic brain injury, requiring round-the-clock care in a specialized rehabilitation facility…