The teen gang member accused of using a stolen car to drag a Brooklyn cop several blocks faced a fleet of stone-faced NYPD officers on Friday who packed a courtroom for the teen’s arraignment on attempted murder charges.
Justin Murrell, 15, a member of Brooklyn’s Eight Trey Crips gang, walked into Brooklyn Supreme Court handcuffed and shackled at the feet wearing a sweat-stained t-shirt and loose khaki pants.
Murrell, who had been recovering from a facial gunshot wound up until Friday morning, was remanded without bail after pleading not guilty to charges of first-degree attempted murder and assault for the June 3 incident that left Officer Dalsh Veve, 35, hospitalized in critical condition.
The teen, a Brownsville resident who has a lengthy rap sheet of 11 prior arrests, was charged as an adult.
Dozens of officers from the 67th Precinct, where Veve worked, filled the standing-room-only courtroom.
At the start of the proceeding, Murrell’s legal aid attorney Fred Pratt asked Judge Dineen Riviezzo to allow Murrell to stand un-cuffed, which Riviezzo granted.
Veve was among a group of cops responding to reports of gunfire just before midnight when he approached a black Honda Civic that was parked at a fire hydrant in East Flatbush.
The car, which turned out to have been stolen on Long Island, took off speeding and dragged Veve for about three blocks before he was thrown from the vehicle, authorities said.
During the mayhem, the teen was shot in the face by Veve, a married father, who managed to pop off two bullets.
After crashing the car Murrell fled and walked about 15 blocks to Kings County Hospital, but saw several police outside so he instead took an Uber to Brookdale Hospital where he was admitted, prosecutors said.
“This appalling and senseless criminal behavior will be prosecuted to the fullest extent because we simply won’t allow anyone to put our police officers in harm’s way,” said Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
The cop suffered severe neurological injuries and remains in a coma, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Murrell had been recovering from his gunshot wound at Brookdale Hospital since Friday morning, when he was released.
“The indictment against my client alleges that he intended to cause death and physical injury…nothing could be further from the truth,” Pratt told reporters outside the courthouse.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said “As Dalsh Veve, a dedicated and beloved police officer, lies in a hospital bed with his fellow officers vigilantly standing watch, we will do everything in our power to ensure that this dirtbag never has the opportunity to harm another NYC police officer or citizen of again.”
The teenage faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.
His mother declined to comment to reporters as she left the courthouse with her head bowed down.
He is due back in court on Aug. 22.