NYPD cop nearly plowed down his fellow officers while driving drunk, police claim

An off-duty New York City cop has been charged with four counts related to a Sunday night incident in which he allegedly crashed into multiple cars and nearly plowed down his fellow police officers while driving drunk.

Shieed Haniff, 30, was apprehended just before midnight on Sunday evening, according to the New York Daily News, and charged with leaving the scene of an accident, driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and refusing to take a breath test.

According to court papers cited by the Daily News on Tuesday, Haniff was seen driving erratically around Brooklyn, NY late Sunday when he managed to attract the attention of some on-duty colleagues with the New York Police Department. Court documents allege that, moments later, Haniff crashed his car into a vehicle, made a u-turn, sped away and then struck another automobile.

Haniff then took off again, the Daily News reported, plowing through a traffic stop with “police jumping out of the way,” according to court papers. The occupants of both cars allegedly struck by the officer suffered minor injuries, police said.

The 7-year veteran of the force was arrested on the scene and charged with the four counts, but soon after was released without bail. A statement from the NYPD cited by a local CBS affiliate claims Sunday’s incident marked the first time the officer has ever ended up on the wrong side of the law.

Haniff’s driving license was revoked after Sunday’s arrest, the Daily News also added, but New York state law requires that such action is taken against anyone charged with refusing a Breathalyzer test.

The NYPD has not publically announced any disciplinary action at this time against Haniff, but the results of an extensive probe launched by the Daily News back in 2010 suggest that the Big Apple’s police force isn’t exactly known for holding cops accountable after other officer-related drunk driving instances: between 1999 and 2010, the paper reported, 55 NYPD cops were charged with drunk driving, but all pleaded down to non-felony charges and for the most part remained on the force after.

“The number of cops convicted in drunken-driving incidents is an extremely tiny percentage of the 30,000-member force,” Barry Paddock and Benhamin Lesser wrote for the Daily News four years ago, “But the incidents occur fairly regularly, year after year.”