A Brooklyn woman who reportedly admitted in court documents that she hit a New York City police officer with her vehicle on Wednesday has said it was no accident.
Sahara Dula, 24, was arrested after an incident in which the black Lexus she purportedly was driving hit a police officer who had been telling her she was driving in the wrong lane.
“I told the cop I wanted to go straight, and he wouldn’t move, so I hit him,” court papers quote Dula as saying to investigators, according to the New York Post.
“I did it on purpose,’’ Dula said.
According to court documents, Dula said“F–k these cops! He wouldn’t move!’’
Police said the woman also said, “It’s a lesson to him, and hopefully he doesn’t want to be a cop anymore.”
NEW: New York City driver intentionally plows her car into an NYPD officer, telling authorities she wanted to teach him a “lesson.”
This is what happens when you convince people that cops are the enemy. Terrible.
Sahara Dula, who is a criminal justice graduate, was driving the… pic.twitter.com/AYU1Cr2DSS
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 19, 2024
The officer was identified as Ruchiran Dias, according to WPIX-TV. Dias suffered a broken leg as well as multiple bruises, WNBC-TV reported.
Is violence against police increasing?
Video of the incident shows a police officer approaching the Lexus as it was going the wrong way on Park Avenue. Police were in the area in an unrelated incident that involved a robbery at a high-end clothing store, according to the New York Post.
The vehicle lurches forward and hits the officer, sending him rolling off the hood of the car and onto the pavement.
Dula has been charged with first-degree attempted assault, attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer, second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, and operating a vehicle while ability impaired by drugs and reckless driving, the Post reported, citing court documents.
Dula “admitted to smoking marijuana,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Lucy Shephard said in court on Friday.
The suspect has been jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail.
possibly this pic.twitter.com/iVW2DYOroD
— Young’s Modulus (@y_modulus) January 18, 2024
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said Dias was “knocked … straight to the ground,” according to WPIX.
“He could have been killed. We believe she tried to kill him,” Hendry said, indicating he would have liked to have seen a charge of attempted murder filed against Dula.
“It’s clear she tried to mow down a New York City police officer,” Hendry said. “The criminal justice system is broken.”
