NEW YORK CITY — NYPD officers shot and killed an unarmed ex-con after a car chase from Riverdale into Westchester on Tuesday afternoon, police sources said.
Officers on patrol spotted a silver 2009 Nissan with tinted windows driving recklessly near West 262 Street and Broadway about 11:46 a.m. and lit their lights to try to pull the driver over, NYPD officials said.
"F--k you," driver Miguel Espinal, 36, told police, before speeding north up the Saw Mill Parkway, law-enforcement sources said.
Espinal then pulled a U-turn, which was also carrying 25-year-old Akeem Smith, at McLean Avenue and headed south in the northbound lane. It then crashed into other vehicles near Tibbets Brook Park off exit 4 of the parkway, sources said.
Police Chase Ends In Crash On Saw Mill River Parkway In Yonkers https://t.co/uIkhHAMepa
— 1010 WINS (@1010WINS) December 8, 2015Espinal ran from the car into some nearby woods. The officers were told by a witness that Espinal was armed, police sources said.
After a foot pursuit, the officers finally caught up with Espinal about 75 yards into the woods, sources said.
"The pursuing officers attempted to take the suspect into custody when, during a struggle, one officer's firearm discharged striking the 36-year-old male in the torso," NYPD officials said in a press release.
Espinal, who lived in College Point and had been arrested 11 times before, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Smith, meanwhile, laid down on the roadway and pretended to be an injured passenger from another car, sources said.
Investigators had not found any weapon belonging to Espinal as of Wednesday morning, an NYPD spokesman said. He said their investigation is ongoing.
It was not immediately clear how long the 28-year-old officer who shot him has worked for the department.
The state's Attorney General will oversee an investigation into the shooting, a spokesman said Wednesday morning.
Smith was arrested and reportedly suffered minor injuries. He was listed in stable condition at St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
Initial reports said there was a third suspect still at large, but Yonkers police confirmed there were no other people being sought.
UPDATE NYPD ACTIVITY SAW MILL PKWY: We have been informed by the NYPD that there are no additional suspects be... https://t.co/xudbqYF91j
— Yonkers Police (@YonkersPD) December 8, 2015The Sawmill was closed in both directions immediately after the shooting.
Espinal, who has roots in Florida, has been arrested for attempted burglary, drug offenses, possession of stolen property, robbery and reckless endangerment, prison officials said during his 2008 parole hearing.
He was sent to prison in 2002 and spent the next two years behind bars, records show.
He was arrested when he broke into a Queens business in December 2004, prison records show. He served the next five years behind bars until his release to parole in 2009, records show.
Officials during his parole hearing said he kept a clean record while in prison and that his "institutional programming demonstrates progress," records show.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included an initial report that the suspects were being sought for a shooting.
