An NYPD cop who shot a driver in a road rage confrontation in New Jersey and then fled the scene is a “time bomb” who left his 30-year-old victim a quadriplegic, prosecutors charge.
Officer Hieu Tran was ordered held without bail following a Tuesday hearing at the Camden County Hall of Justice. He’s accused of firing at another motorist as the two waited at a light near Route 73 and Cooper Road in Camden County on May 17.
Video surveillance of the 11:15 p.m. shooting shows the victim’s yellow truck speeding away from Tran’s white SUV, which had rolled up alongside the victim, the Courier Post reported.
“The yellow truck accelerated through the red light into oncoming traffic, colliding with other vehicles,” police said in court papers.
A few moments later, Tran’s white SUV is seen speeding through the light, court papers note.
First responders quickly realized that the crash victim had been shot. Three spent shell casings were found at the scene.
“While the paramedics were responding [to the victim], the defendant was speeding up the turnpike,” Assistant Prosecutor Peter Gallagher told Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce during the hearing, according to the Courier Post. “(Tran) used (his weapon) to gun down an unarmed man who was just trying to get home from work.”
“(He’s a) time bomb,” Gallagher added.
Tran, 27, worked in the social media unit for the NYPD’s press office. He was suspended without pay earlier this month when he was arrested for the shooting.
Tran was off-duty returning home alone from a wedding when he got into a road rage incident with the victim, who was left a quadriplegic and is “still on life support,” Gallagher said.
New Jersey police managed to track the white SUV that fled the scene to a Wawa in Mount Laurel, where Tran used his credit card to buy gas.
Investigators later determined the gunshots came from Tran’s service weapon.
Tran was arrested on June 6, charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons possession. Besides the man he shot, a woman in another car was injured in the multi-vehicle crash that followed.
His attorney Ross Gigliotti said a psychiatric examination showed the cop suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, depression and an alcohol-abuse issue. He asked that his client be released with monitoring so he could get the treatment he needs but Joyce denied the request.
“My client stands behind his plea of not guilty,” Gigliotti told the Daily News Wednesday. “We felt there were significant psychiatric issues he’s been experiencing for some time and substance abuse issues that should be handled at a treatment facility.
“I thought that was a good set of restrictive conditions but the judge didn’t agree,” said Gigliotti, who said Officer Tran is “frightened.”
“He’s very frightened for a lot of reasons,” he said.
Gallagher said if Tran is released he would be “a grave risk to the community.”
Tran, his hands shackled, said nothing at the hearing. More than a dozen of Tran’s family and friends watched from the gallery. One woman cried when Tran was ordered back to jail.
