Nassau detective's leg broken in arrest of car theft suspects in Queens
Matthew Garcia, of Queens, is charged with grand larceny. Credit: NCPD
Two car theft suspects were arrested late Tuesday night and charged with multiple counts of grand larceny while detectives investigated a stolen car ring in Corona, Queens, Nassau County police said.
A Nassau detective, who wasn’t identified, sustained a broken leg when the driver of a 2018 stolen BMW X5 intentionally struck the detective. That happened shortly after the SUV was stopped at a gas station where detectives attempted to arrest the three men inside, police said.
The incident occurred Tuesday about 11:53 p.m. when Auto Theft Unit detectives saw the BMW at a BP gas station near Horace Harding Expressway and 99th Street, police said in a statement. The detectives were investigating multiple grand larcenies that have occurred throughout Nassau County, police said.
“One of the subjects, now known as Jorge Alvarez, was operating the vehicle and intentionally struck one of the arresting detectives crashing into a nearby police vehicle,” the statement said.
The three suspects got out of the BMW and ran away, police said. A short time later police caught up with Matthew Garcia, 21, of Queens, and Rafael Ramirez, 35, of Manhattan, police said.
“The detective who was struck suffered multiple injuries including a broken leg" and was taken to a hospital, police said.
Police did not say that Alvarez had been arrested.
Garcia is charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, four counts of third-degree grand larceny, and resisting arrest. Ramirez is charged with two counts of third-degree grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, and resisting arrest, police said.
Garcia is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday. Ramirez will be arraigned when medically practical, police said.
