A subway fare-beater accused of threatening a pair of NYPD officers with a knife, sparking a showdown that resulted in four being injured by police gunfire at a Brooklyn L station, was indicted Friday for assaulting the officer struck by his partner in the friendly fire shooting.
Derrell Mickles, 37, appeared remotely from his hospital bed at a hearing in Brooklyn Supreme Court after the Sunday shooting. The gunfire left Mickles and 49-year-olD Gregory Delpeche, who was on his way to work, critically injured. Officer Edmund Mays was injured in the shooting, along with another passenger, a 26-year-old woman, who was grazed.
Mickles was also indicted on charges of attempted aggravated assault on a police officer, menacing the pair of officers, attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon and theft of services. He was held on $1.5 million bond.
After the hearing, Mickles’ lawyer said the amount of bail was unnecessarily high and his client maintained his innocence.
“[He is in] a very serious condition. As far as his physical well-being, I’m sure he would come back to court if he was released without any bail,” said Jonathan Fink.
“I can just tell you just from briefly speaking with Mr. Mickles before the arraignment that he maintains his innocence and I think that you know there’s a lot to be explored in this case,” said the lawyer.
Fink said the response to Mickles’ alleged crime was disproportionate, but did not elaborate.
“Well, I haven’t seen any video on this case so I’d like to see all the video before I talk further on that,” he told reporters.
The NYPD has said Mickles was only a few feet away from the officers — within what is considered the “zone of safety” when they fired; the NYPD said they will release body came footage from the incident by 3 pm Friday.
The incident unfolded about 3 p.m. when Mickles, who has a history of mental illness, walked through an open subway gate at the Sutter Ave. L subway station in Brownsville, according to police.
Two 73rd Precinct officers, assigned to the station on overtime as part of an ongoing effort to tamp down on subway crime, followed Mickles in the second encounter he had with the pair of officers within 15 minutes.
“At a certain point on the platform, the male mutters the words ‘You know I’m going to kill you if you don’t stop following me’,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference Sunday evening. Officers Edmund Mays and Alex Wong caught up to Mickles and asked him to take his hands out of his pockets, Maddrey said.
“They become aware that he has a knife in his pocket,” he added.
“They give numerous commands,” Maddrey said. “The male basically challenges the officers—‘No, you’re going to have to shoot me’.”
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A Manhattan-bound train pulled into the station and Mickles got on, followed by Mays and Wong. Both officers tried to subdue Mickles using Tasers but they were “ineffective,” Maddrey said.
“At one point he’s advancing on one of the officers with his knife,” said Maddrey.
Both cops fired “multiple rounds”, said Maddrey.
Delpeche, a straphanger in the next car on his way to work at Woodhull Hospital, was struck in the head and is suffering brain damage, said his family. Officer Mays was struck under his armpit by his partner’s bullet. Nine shots in total were fired by Mays and Wong.
Mickles has about 20 prior arrests, more than a dozen for burglary, plus one for a robbery and one for gun possession, police sources said.
Mickles has also been classified as “emotionally disturbed” during six earlier police encounters, said sources. In one incident he was in withdrawal after using drugs, said he wanted to kill himself and requested to go to a psychiatric hospital. On another occasion he told police he suffered from anxiety and depression after being arrested.
The Sunday afternoon shooting involves numerous issues police have been grappling with in recent years, most notably how to deal with the soaring fare evasion rate and how the city deals with those who are emotionally disturbed.
Mickles’ next court date is November 20.
With Thomas Tracy
