Unarmed Army reservist shot and killed by police at traffic stop on Grand Central Parkway

New York Daily News ^ | October 5, 2012 | By Rocco Parascandola , Kerry Burke , Shayna Jacobs AND Corky Siemaszko

[Uncle Chip]

An Army reservist with a clean record was fatally shot in his car by an NYPD detective early Thursday — before he even had “a chance to put his hands up” in surrender, a witness told the Daily News.

Noel Polanco, 22, was killed on the Grand Central Parkway in what witness Diane DeFerrari called an act of “pure road rage” following a terrifying chase by cops in an unmarked vehicle.

“Noel didn't have a chance to put his hands up. They screamed, ‘Put up your hands!’ and shot at the same time,” said DeFerrari, a 36-year-old bartender who was riding in the front passenger seat. “It was simultaneous. There was a pop and Noel gasped.”

“They acted in pure road rage,” she added.

Following the shooting, DeFerrari said she and a backseat passenger, an off-duty NYPD cop, were ordered out and made to put their hands on the car.

“The cop said, ‘Your friend just shot himself,’” DeFerrari recalled.

>snip<

The cop who gunned down Polanco offered a different account, according to a source familiar with what he told colleagues. Detective Hassam Hamdy said he pulled the trigger after the Queens man reached down for something that turned out to be a yellow-and-black power drill, the source said.

But DeFerrari insisted Polanco never took his hands off the wheel.

>snip<

Police sources identified the officer in Polanco’s car as 29-year-old Vanessa Rodriguez. She was waving her police ID out the window just before the shooting, sources said.

[thefactor]

Um, the manual cannot cover 100% of circumstances. These kids were driving like lunatics. That much I know. At that time of night in that area having your weapon out is absolutely warranted if need be. Shooting it, however, is another matter.

[thefactor]

Not that the press would know but she still probably has her NYPD ID card which is different from a badge. If she was holding anything out the window it was that.

[Uncle Chip]

I think the point of it is that she was not asleep in the backseat. What she was holding out the window at the time of the shooting is secondary if anything at all.

She was a witness to what went down and now the claim is that she was asleep and saw and heard nothing. If he was driving like a lunatic it is hard to believe that she slept through it.

Now she's sleeping beauty. Why the change in story???

[thefactor]

Believe me when I tell you that our internal affairs bureau will get the truth and will crucify this cop if it was a bad shoot. There is so much oversight it’s scary. The ESU cops are some of the most elite we have. If they pulled a car over there was a reason for it and they would have been livid.

[GladesGuru]

“Detective Hassam Hamdy said he pulled the trigger

Shouldn’t the headline be: “Muslim NYPD Detective Murders “

The ONLY thing that will change LEO behavior is when this Muslim-N-Blue is executed for deliberate killing of a citiezn.

Note that Muzzie-N-Blu can’t claim no intent because had placed his finger in the trigger guard.

Rule One, taught to all shooters, even NYPD clowns such as this Muzzie-N-Blu is “Finger in trigger guard only when you are going to shoot”.

Hang him.

[Tuanedge]

"Uncle Chip" is on an endless badge licking trip

Drops to his knees for LEO abuse every time

He sez he ain't queer, though abusive cops are his heroes

Defending womanbeaters with badges,he shines.

[thefactor]

This thread seems to fly in the face of your statements. Uncle Chip is hammering the cop in this story.

[Uncle Chip]

Still clueless, aren’t you???

[thefactor]

No offense, but you are unaware of how we are taught to shoot.

[Tuanedge]

I'm happy for people toread your statements and decide for themselves. He flipped around for his audience a few times on that thread too, but in the end, revealed his true colors. Check it out.

[thefactor]

IMHO, there's nothing wrong with giving cops the benefit of the doubt.

Sincerely, an NYPD cop.

[Tuanedge]

Still clueless, aren’t you???

At least 50 people on that thread, all telling you that you were basically sick, and needed help...all clueless, right?

Do you all know why he started this thread? Because Wannabe Womanbeater ran away from the duplicate thread on this article after he got called out, and he thought he'd start another with a fresh audience.

If you check that woman beating thread, you see he starts out attacking the cop and ends up wanting to hang his female victim.

[Uncle Chip]

IMHO, there's nothing wrong with giving cops the benefit of the doubt. Sincerely, an NYPD cop.

thefactor, I appreciate your "yeh buts". They have made me rethink a few things here.

But according to Tuanedge, I am not supposed to listen to you and rethink anything.

[Tuanedge]

Or, people could read your posts,and take a sensible view of your M.O. with all the facts at hand.

I'll give you your sandbox back now, "Uncle Chip". Have a nice Saturday, everybody!

[GreaterSwiss]

Total bs. This elite cop has two judgments against him. One last yr cost the city 250k which is prob 3x is salary.

The NYPD IA is a joke who works to cover stuff up for their former coworkers.

[GreaterSwiss]

“Detective Hassan Hamdy, identified by police as the officer who fatally shot Noel Polanco, 22, was one of several officers named in a 2007 brutality lawsuit by a Queens grandmother and her grandson who said they were terrorized by police after being subjected to an illegal search of their home. The suit was settled for $235,000. “
“But the city also said that Hamdy was named in another civil rights complaint that the city settled for $291,000 in 2001, and that details of that case were not immediately available.”

[21twelve]

“and they would have been livid”

Thanks for the insight on the cops’ attitude. I’ll remember that if I’m ever pulled over.

[thefactor]

Nice selective edit. You work for MSNBC?

[thefactor]

I’ll tell that to the former cops who are in jail and the ones that have their guns taken away as soon as someone makes an accusation against them. I read every statement of charges and I see every disposition. You really have no idea of what you speak. So give it a rest.

[GladesGuru]

“No offense, but you are unaware of how we are taught to shoot.”

May I ask who you refer to when you used “we”?

I asked because both NRA civilian and LEO instructors teach that the trigger finger is inserted in the trigger guard after a target is selected and firing in about to occur.

The Muslim-N-Blu is described as doing otherwise. If so, he had made a determination to kill regardless of the response of the slain citizen. To date, the events described are that of a man with a Muslim name executing an unarmed American.

If so, such a LEO must be executed. If not, the increasing American feeling of distrust of the Police will turn to fear and loathing. The police seem to have lost sight of the facts - specifically that they work for us and that we outnumber them.

Just as police do not enter certain urban areas unless in numbers because of residents attacking them, continued abuse of the American population by its officers will certainly cause an eventual attack on the Police - hopefully on budgets, rather than actual officers.

But, as King George discovered, abusing armed Americans is a risky business.

Let us hope we do not repeat history, as I fear the historian Paul Johnson was right. He said that America could only have come into existence when it did, and that if it ever fails, “that which will come after will be unspeakably worse.”

May I suggest that only the very public execution of such murderous LEO’s will change the presently all too common police attitude from that of police state “Ubermenschen” to that of civilized law enforcement officer.