Officers Open Fire On Armed Carjacking Suspect Crossing Verrazano Bridge

Ned Berke -
Suspect Tyree Brown (Source: DCPI)

Police are hunting for Tyree Brown, 25, the suspect in a carjacking believed to be the person MTA Bridge and Tunnel Authority Police fired at on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge this morning.

According to police, Brown flashed a gun at a 29-year-old man on Holland Avenue in Staten Island yesterday afternoon. He ordered the man to the ground, swiped his keys and fled in the victim’s 2006 black Hummer.

Authorities put out an alert, and Verrazano Bridge officers were on guard for the vehicle. It turned up at Staten Island-bound toll booths at approximately 1:15 a.m. Two officers stopped the car before bullets began flying.

“I can confirm that around 1:15 a.m. several shots were fired by two Bridge and Tunnel Officers at a car believed to have been hijacked (somewhere else in the city) at gunpoint,” said MTA Bridges and Tunnels spokesperson Judie Glave. “NYPD asked MTA Bridges and Tunnels officers at the Verrazano-Narrows to be on the lookout for the car.”

The NYPD and MTA Bridges and Tunnels declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.

SILive reports that the cops heard what they believed might be a gunshot coming from within the car:

One law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said that when the officers approached, they heard a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot, and someone inside threw a woman out of the Hummer. That sound is what spurred the officers to open fire, the source said.
The female passenger tried to flee and was arrested at the toll plaza, the MTA spokeswoman said. The male driver took off north on a nearby service road, ditching the vehicle on Targee Street before running off.

Tyree Brown is described as a 25-year-old black male, 5’08” in height, 150 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and has “Dorothea” tattooed on his neck. He was last seen wearing a red hooded jacket and tan pants.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.