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Village Bike Rider Claims Off Duty Officer Pulled Gun on Him, Report Says

By Ben Fractenberg | October 18, 2010 8:12am | Updated on October 18, 2010 8:28am
A bike rider claims an off duty pulled a gun on him while he was riding his bike on Bleecker Street Saturday night.
A bike rider claims an off duty pulled a gun on him while he was riding his bike on Bleecker Street Saturday night.
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Flickr/Nick.Allen

By Ben Fractenberg

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — A bike rider pedaling through Greenwich Village late Saturday night claims a plainclothes NYPD officer in an unmarked police car pulled a gun on him after nearly hitting him, the Daily News reported Sunday.

Ryan Stepka, 36, said he was pedaling on Bleecker Street around 11:15 p.m. Saturday when a black Volkswagen GTI almost hit him.

He told the News that he tapped on the car's window to warn of his presence, but the driver kept cutting him off.

Stepka claimed he then got off his bike and approached the car.

"As he rolled his window down, he points a gun at my face," Stepka told the News. "No words were exchanged. I was just too stunned."

A bike rider claims an off duty pulled a gun on him while he was riding his bike on Bleecker Street Saturday night.
A bike rider claims an off duty pulled a gun on him while he was riding his bike on Bleecker Street Saturday night.
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Stephen Chernin/Getty Images

The car then allegedly pulled away and Stepka called 911.

Then he saw the car again while riding his bike at Barrow and West 4th Streets.

He said he then yelled, "Stop the guy! He pulled a gun on me!"

He claims a pair of uniformed NYPD officers who happened to be on the scene approached the car with their guns drawn.

But when the unmarked vehicle rolled down the window of the car he said clipped him, he saw the uniformed police lower their weapons, leading him to believe the man inside was also a member of the force.

NYPD deputy commissioner Paul Browne told the News "the matter is being investigated," but would not confirm whether the driver of the unmarked vehicle was a police officer.