Press Release
FAR ROCKAWAY MAN SENTENCED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER IN OFF-DUTY COP SHOOTING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Chad Collie was sentenced to 19 years in prison for attempted murder in the shooting of an off-duty NYPD officer whom he was trying to carjack in Far Rockaway last year.
District Attorney Katz said: “This type of lawlessness has no place in our communities and we have made sure that a dangerous man will serve a long prison sentence. We will not let up in our efforts to get guns off our streets.”
Collie, 20, of Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Far Rockaway, pleaded guilty last month to attempted murder in the second degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino today imposed the determinate sentence of 19 years in prison, to be followed by five years post-release supervision,
According to the charges:
• On February 1, 2022, at approximately 10:00 p.m., Collie approached the officer’s vehicle, which was stopped at a traffic light near the intersection of Beach Channel Drive and Beach 62nd Street in the Arverne section of Far Rockaway. Collie tapped on the driver’s side window and, at gunpoint, demanded that the driver, a 22-year-old off-duty NYPD officer, get out of the car.
• Video surveillance shows the officer exit the vehicle, and back away from Collie. Collie fired three shots at the officer, striking him once in the shoulder. The off-duty officer returned fire, but missed Collie, who then fled on foot.
• Nearby uniformed officers in an unmarked police vehicle responded to the sound of gunfire and spotted Collie on Beach 62nd Street. They followed him to the intersection of Beach Channel Drive and Beach 59th Street, stopped a few feet in front of him, and exited their vehicle.
• Collie fired a shot at them, hitting the rear of their car. He then tossed the gun and ran. The uniformed officers apprehended him a short time later.
• Three shell casings were recovered near the intersection of Beach 62nd Street and Beach Channel Drive, where Collie had fired at the off-duty officer, who received medical treatment at a local hospital for his injuries.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Salmon prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michael Whitney, Senior Deputy Chief, of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Major Crimes Division Shawn Clark.