Mob swarms NYPD cruisers during chaotic Queens car meetup

Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Cops have unmasked some of the unruly mob at a crazed Queens car meetup that left three NYPD vehicles vandalized, police said Friday.

Scouring surveillance images of the wild scene in Ozone Park early Sunday, cops managed to collect a few images of the suspects without their masks and are asking the public for help in identifying them.

Three suspects were nabbed in the Bronx on Sunday following the 1 a.m. incident.

“We will not tolerate lawlessness or vandalism aimed at the police,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X, announcing that several individuals were arrested “for crimes that endangered our cops and our streets.”

As police responded to the scene at Rockaway Blvd. and 97th Ave., the unruly crowd surrounded three of their vehicles, video of the incident shows.

Three of the police cruisers, two of which were unmarked, were dented, with a number of their windows broken with traffic cones, police said.

As more cops were called to the scene, the group dispersed, with more than 200 vehicles speeding off in all directions.

Tristian Nandram, 18, of Jamaica, Queens, was arrested around 4 a.m. Monday at another meetup, this one at Zerega and Gleason Aves . in the Bronx.

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At that incident, more than 20 drivers surrounded a single NYPD patrol car with Nandram smashing a window and stealing a bag with police paperwork from the back seat, cops said. He ran off but was chased down and tased by cops, who arrested him.

Nandram is charged criminal mischief, obstructing governmental administration, petty larceny and possession of stolen property.

Jordi Montesquieu, 23, of Massachusetts, and Tyler Newman, 18, of New Hampshire, were arrested elsewhere in the Bronx. Montesquieu was charged with fleeing a police car, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and obstructing governmental administration. Newman was charged with obstructing governmental administration.

Meetups, with groups of car enthusiasts gathering en masse and often racing each other and performing stunts, have happened with greater frequency since the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Anyone with information about the suspects in Sunday’s mayhem is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

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