Pat Lynch. Photo by Robert Miller
The head of the NYPD’s largest union Monday accused the justice system of coddling the underage driver of a stolen car that was used to seriously injure a Brooklyn cop over the weekend.
Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said the 15-year-old suspect had been “arrested multiple times” in the past and called him “someone who should not have been out of jail.”
“We cannot pander to politics,” Lynch said.
“You can be 15 years old, and you’re a threat….He should’ve went to court and should pay for the crimes he did in the past.”
“Now unfortunately we have to visit a hero police officer in the hospital,” he added.
Lynch made the remarks outside Kings County Hospital, where Officer Dalsh Veve, 35, is being treated for what sources have described as “serious head trauma.”
Mayor de Blasio on Monday said Veve was “grievously injured” and facing “a tough situation.”
“I’m still holding out hope and everyone’s prayers should be with the officer and his family, but it’s very tough,” the mayor said during an unrelated news conference in Queens.
Veve, a married father of a 2-year-old girl, was dragged several blocks and sent tumbling after he responded to a report of shots fired and confronted a motorist parked in front of a fire hydrant in East Flatbush late Saturday.
Veve fired two bullets during the mayhem, striking the 15-year-old in the face, sources have said.
The teen is being treated at Brookdale Hospital, where he “was in bad shape” and breathing with the help of a mechanical ventilator Sunday, sources said.