Cops: Driver rammed cop cars, tried to run over officer

Police said a Mineola man was arrested and charged Wednesday after he rammed Nassau County police cars with his van, attempted to run over an officer and refused to stop even when officers fired shots. The van finally stopped when the driver lost control after a short but harrowing chase in Jericho.

Police fired four times at the vehicle, striking it at least once but failing to disable it. The driver, Joseph A. Lima, 41, of 257 Horton Hwy., was not struck.

Police said Lima was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, five counts of second-degree criminal mischief, four counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and driving while ability impaired by drugs.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Two officers were treated at a hospital for what police called "minor injuries."

Police said the incident took place at about 2:25 p.m. Wednesday when officers responding to a 911 call about a suspicious van near Putnam Avenue and Orange Drive in Jericho saw the van, headed west on Orange Drive, roll through a stop sign.

Officers tried to pull the van over, but Lima, refused to stop, driving recklessly onto lawns and sidewalks, police said. Police said a tire blew out on the van, but still Lima did not stop.

Instead, police said, he crashed into several police vehicles, then drove in reverse, striking another. At one point, police said, officers attempted to pull Lima from his van, but he drove at a sergeant - and tried to run him over.

Police said officers fired four shots, while the sergeant jumped onto the hood of the van to avoid being struck.

The van then sideswiped a police car and police chased it east on Saratoga Drive before Lima lost control on South Marginal Road, ending up on a lawn.