The president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association Dec. 17 ripped into a Brooklyn jury for finding a teenager not guilty of attempted murder when he sped off in a stolen car in East Flatbush last year with a police officer partially inside the vehicle who was then thrown off and gravely injured when the teen made a sharp turn.
Prosecutors had alleged Justin Murrell, then 15, hit speeds as high as 58 mph with Officer Dalsh Veve hanging onto the black Honda Civic. Officer Veve, a 10-year NYPD veteran assigned to the 67th Precinct, suffered severe head and brain injuries and spent nearly a year in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities before returning home in May. Mr. Murrell, who has a long rap sheet, was acquitted Dec. 17 of the attempted-murder count but found guilty of first-degree assault.
‘Baby-Faced Punk’
“The jury’s not-guilty verdict in the attempted murder of PO Dalsh Veve is wrong,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement. “It is just by the grace of God that Dalsh is alive today. He will suffer the permanent and devastating effects of Justin Murrell’s criminal actions for the rest of his life. This punk knew he had a police officer hanging off the side of the stolen car that he was driving and he intentionally drove wildly in an attempt to kill the officer. This jury fell for this baby-faced punk and now it is imperative that the judge give him the maximum sentence for the conviction on the assault of a police officer charge.”
Mr. Murrell, now 17, was tried as an adult but will be sentenced as a juvenile on June 9. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Officer Veve had been responding along with six other plainclothes officers to a noise complaint at a party late on the night of June 3, 2017. He approached the Civic, which was parked on Tilden Ave. with Mr. Murrell at the wheel, to speak with him and three other occupants about an earlier shooting. With the officer peering inside the car, Mr. Murrell then pulled out and punched the accelerator. Officer Veve was able to fire two shots from his service weapon before being thrown from the speeding car.
Long Recovery Looms
He reportedly suffers from continuing memory problems and has difficulty recognizing his wife and child.
Mr. Murrell, whose 11 previous arrests included three in 2015 on armed-robbery charges, was hit in the jaw by one of the officer’s gunshots and took himself to a local hospital, where he was treated and arrested.