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Videos: Police Arrest Fleeing Driver Who Can't Escape Holland Tunnel Traffic
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 10, 2019
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Stephen Nessen / Gothamist / WNYC
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Dec 10, 2019
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A slow-moving car chase unfolded on the Manhattan side of the Holland Tunnel on Tuesday afternoon, hours after several people, including a police officer, were killed in a gunfight across the river at a Jersey City deli. As of right now, there is no reason to believe the two incidents are related, according to a spokesperson for the Port Authority police.
Eyewitness videos posted online at around 4 p.m. show police attempting to apprehend the driver of a white Mercedes Benz with temporary dealer plates. As police draw their guns on the vehicle, the driver repeatedly lurches forward and reverses, smashing cars idling in tunnel traffic.
"How do you think you're getting out of there?" wonders one observer, narrating the wild scene from a nearby office building. "Why don't they just shoot the tires?"
At one point, an officer appears to smash the driver's side window with a blunt object.
After several minutes, police eventually ripped the driver out of the Mercedes and tossed him to the pavement. More than a dozen officers can be seen surrounding and arresting the man, who was wearing an Adidas sweatshirt. Police then search the car for ID, as an iPhone left on the seat repeatedly rang.
A paramedic on scene told Gothamist/WNYC that the arrest was unrelated to the shooting in Jersey City. A spokesperson for the NYPD could not immediately provide any information about the arrest.
We'll update this story as more information becomes available.
Additional reporting by Stephen Nessen and Katherine Fung.
Tagged
holland tunnel
police chase
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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