By Tim Gorta
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Cops used a high-tech license plate scanner to nab possible suspects in a hit-and-run crash that injured an NYPD traffic agent near the entrance ramp to the Manhattan Bridge, police said.
The BMW luxury sedan involved in the May 17 crash was spotted by cops equipped with a scanner mounted on their squad car on E. 79th Street between First and Second Aves Friday night.
Police questioned both the driver of the BMW and a passenger, who is the registered owner of the vehicle.
The traffic agent was struck by a car on Tuesday, May 17, while on duty on Canal Street, near the Manhattan Bridge, according to the police.
The driver of the car drove off, leaving behind the traffic agent with a separated shoulder and knee abrasions. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center and subsequently released, police said.
As the driver sped off, a speed camera at the Manhattan Bridge took a picture of the car and witnesses gave police the car's license plate number, police said.
It was that plate number that allowed cops to stop the BMW Friday.
The car was impounded after the car's registered owner, Ibrahim Yazici of Sunnyside, Queens, refused to not cooperate with the investigation, police said. Both Yazici and the driver were released, pending further investigation.
Detectives found damage on the car that is consistent with the hit and run incident, police said.
