An unarmed man was shot and killed by a New York police detective early Thursday after the man had been pulled over by two police cars in Queens, N.Y., authorities said.
Noel Polanco, 22, was on his way home to Corona, N.Y., from his job at the Ice Lounge in Astoria Thursday morning when he was shot at about 5:15 a.m. He had offered a ride to a colleague, bartender Diana Deferrari, and another woman, who was an off-duty police officer, according to law enforcement sources. All three lived in the same part of Queens.
Noel Polanco, 22, was shot and killed by an NYPD officer after he was pulled over early Thursday morning.
As they headed home on the Grand Central Parkway near LaGuardia Airport, Polanco was pulled over after cutting off what turned out to be an unmarked police van.
When Polanco stopped the car, a detective approached the vehicle and asked him to show his hands, according to police.
Police said Polanco reached under his seat and appeared to grab for a yellow electric power drill with a black handle.
That’s when the detective, Hassan Hamdy, 39, a 14-year veteran assigned to the Emergency Service Unit, fired a single shot through the passenger-side window and hit Polanco in the stomach. He was taken to New York Hospital Queens, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
