https://nypost.com/2018/01/17/suspects-in-times-square-cop-hit-and-run-arrested/
Suspects in Times Square cop hit-and-run arrested
By Larry Celona, Shane Galvin and Chris Perez
January 17, 2018 | 6:16pm | Updated
Arfhy Santos and William Lopez. DCPI
The alleged thrill-seekers caught on video last weekend running down a cop with their Mercedes-Benz in Times Square were finally busted on Wednesday, according to police.
Arfhy Santos, 20, and William Lopez, 24, were being held at the Midtown South station house after getting arrested around 4 p.m. for the Saturday night incident, officials said.
Charges were still pending for the two men on Wednesday night.
Authorities had been looking to question Santos and Lopez, both of The Bronx, after publicly identifying them earlier in the day.
The NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force was able to track them down using security camera footage — but not the Mercedes.
“They have not found the vehicle yet,” Manhattan Chief of Detectives William Aubry said at a press briefing Wednesday night.
Santos and Lopez were both allegedly inside the Mercedes C63 when it was seen on video cutting up in the middle of Times Square last weekend, according to officials.
Santos was allegedly behind the wheel and Lopez, who owns the vehicle, was in the front seat. A third individual, who is still at-large, was in the backseat — but police say they are treating him as a witness, rather than an accomplice.
Santos and Lopez both have criminal pasts — and investigators believe they are members of the same Bronx car club. Officials would not provide details, though, about the group or how it operates.
“Based on past actions of these two people, they don’t just give up, they don’t just surrender,” Aubry explained. “They try to escape — and they use a vehicle as a weapon to do so. That’s in their history that we looked at. They use whatever means they have to flee that scene.”
Footage of the incident shows smoke coming from the Mercedes’ tires as Santos attempts a burnout near the Army Recruiting Station. It was at this moment that Officer
Ian Wallace, 26, approached the car and ordered the driver to pull over, to no avail.
The Benz kept going — and clipped Wallace as it sped away.
“Get that car!” the thrown officer can be heard saying in the video, just moments after being thrown from the hood.
Despite his efforts, the duo managed to make a clean getaway, traveling west on West 42nd Street — and hitting several cars in the process, officials said.
Wallace suffered minor injuries to his right leg and hip, chest, arms and back. He was taken to Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s hospital and was expected to make a full recovery.
“He stood in harms way and attempted to stop that vehicle,” Aubry said, noting how Wallace’s “instincts took over.”
“These are men that drive these cars, and, as you’ve seen on the video, they don’t stop for police officers.”
While countless people hailed the cop for his actions, at least one person felt they were unnecessary.
The man who filmed the now-viral video of the incident blamed the officer for the whole thing on Monday — and actually defended the reckless driver.
“He tried to get around the cop. I was right there,” photographer Kiefer Dixon explained on Instagram Live, insisting that he didn’t know the suspects.
“I’ve seen police come up to cars before — they come up nice and slow pace, not charging at them,” Dixon said. “They give the cars a ticket or tell them to relax. This cop ran out to the street, yelling at the guy and what not.”
Aubry, on the other-hand, thinks what Wallace did was nothing short of heroic.
“He’s a brave officer,” said the official. “It took a lot of courage to try and stop that car.”
for drunken driving — with two 5-year-old boys in the back seat, police said on Saturday.
