CHELSEA — Three men were arrested Sunday morning while attempting to flee the scene of a Chelsea shooting that sent one victim to the hospital in critical condition, the NYPD said.
Police said Ramel Harkless, 38, Joseph Saunders, 43, and Barry Wiles, 46, were apprehended after shooting an unidentified 44-year-old man six times in the torso, leg and groin, on West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues about 1 a.m. Sunday.
Officers from the 13th Precinct driving east on West 22nd heard the shots, and saw one of the men run into a double-parked black Mercedes-Benz sedan, which then sped away past the unmarked police vehicle, according to the NYPD.
The unmarked car turned on its lights and sirens and gave chase, following the Mercedes eastbound on West 22nd to Park Avenue, where the sedan blew a red light, made a right turn, and headed south until 19th Street, police said.
The Mercedes then stopped short, causing a collision with the police vehicle, and the officers arrested the three men inside without incident, according to the NYPD. A silver and black handgun was found on the floor of the Mercedes, police said.
The unidentified victim was rushed to Bellevue, where he underwent surgery and is in critical but stable condition, police said.
Harkless, of East New York, was charged with criminal use of a firearm and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD. Saunders, also of East New York, and Wiles, of Bed-Stuy, were both charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, while Wiles was also charged with reckless endangerment, police said.
