Police cuffed a teenage moped rider after chasing him at high speed in a pursuit on the typically crowded the Shore Road greenway in southern Brooklyn Wednesday that could have easily ended in a death, according to a wild video posted on social media.
The footage, first posted on Reddit, shows the 17-year-old motorbike driver coming down the pedestrian and bike path on the Bay Ridge waterfront near the Verrazzano Bridge, with two NYPD squad cars close behind — and one that may have even collided with the rear of the moped.
In the video, the rider then veered left to avoid the pursuing officers before smashing into a barrier and then briefly fleeing on foot before apparently surrendering to the cops.
The two officers then yanked him to the ground and arrested him.
The incident, which happened around 5:20 p.m., started when cops tried to pull over the moped rider but he refused and sped off, according to an NYPD spokesperson, adding the case was "under internal review."
It is unclear how long cops chased the moped rider on the promenade. The Department spokesperson said cops first tried to stop him at Shore Road and Bay Parkway, but that location is to the southeast of the Verrazzano Bridge and in the opposite direction of the chase the video shows.
The nearest access point for cars on the greenway in the direction they were coming from is at Bay Ridge Avenue near Owls Head Park, which is nearly two miles to the north.
The NYPD press office did not immediately respond to a follow up asking for clarification.
The video was reminiscent of another recent police chase of a moped rider on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, where cops appeared to be trying to knock the person off their bike with their 3,000-pound squad car. (The NYPD said at the time that it was "aware" of the video, but has not commented since.)
The NYPD has a history of officers recklessly using their vehicles in chases.
Last year, cops in a van fatally ran over Ronald Smith on Eastern Parkway while driving 45.7 miles per hour, but the officers dodged criminal charges.
In 2019, a cop rammed a Citi Bike rider after claiming he had run some red lights in the East Village, which then-Commissioner James O’Neill defended.
The NYPD's patrol guide specifically requires a vehicle pursuit to "be terminated whenever the risks to ... the public outweigh[s] the danger to the community if suspect is not immediately apprehended." The greenway is typically very crowded with users.
