NEW YORK — Two suspects in an armed holdup followed by a wild shootout that left a pair of plainclothes
police officers wounded were arrested Tuesday after an intense manhunt.
Security video showed one of the men, Jason Polanco, blasting away at the officers with a powerful .44
Magnum pistol as they pursued him Monday night following the robbery in a Bronx grocery store, police
said.
Polanco, 23, was arrested on attempted murder and robbery charges. The second man, 28-year-old Joshua
Kemp, was charged with robbery. The names of their attorneys were not immediately available.
At a news conference, New York Police Department officials praised five officers for choosing to respond
to the robbery report even though their shifts had ended and they were about to head home. The two
wounded officers, Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellerano, were hospitalized in stable condition.
"I commend them for their courage," Chief of Department James O’Neill said. "They were
going home … and they ended up getting into a fierce firefight."
The shooting came about two weeks after two officers were fatally shot while sitting in their patrol car
in Brooklyn, and on the same day that the city touted record low crime levels.
Monday night’s violence unfolded as officers who are part of an anti-crime unit spotted Kemp outside a
Chinese restaurant and Polanco inside it.
When the officers got out of their car and approached Kemp, Polanco shot one round through the window of
the restaurant, striking Kemp and one officer, police said. He went outside and fired two more shots and
wounded the second officer; one officer returned three shots but missed.
Polanco ran away and carjacked a white Camaro that he crashed a few blocks away, police said. He jumped
out, ditched his gun and fled on foot, they said.
Investigators released video early Tuesday that prompted several tips from the public that led to
Polanco’s identification and capture, police said. Kemp was caught after seeking treatment for his wound
at a hospital, which contacted police.
On Dec. 20, Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were gunned down in their patrol car by a man who vowed
online to kill "pigs." The man opened fire, then ran into a subway where he shot himself to
death.
Ramos was buried Dec. 27; Liu was buried Sunday. Tens of thousands of officers from around the country
attended the funerals.
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Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.
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