The Associated Press
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A Queens man who slashed a police officer’s throat with a carpet knife, narrowly missing a critical artery, faces charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer and first-degree assault, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The man, Radcliffe Meeks, 33, was shot in the elbow by the wounded officer’s partner, authorities said.
Meeks remained hospitalized on Wednesday and hadn’t been arraigned, said a spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Prosecutors would not know whether he had a lawyer until his arraignment, spokeswoman Meris Campbell said. There was no listed phone number for Meeks at the address provided by prosecutors.
The slashing took place at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, when the officers were responding to a call of a man with a gun.
When the officers approached the man, a struggle ensued, and the man slashed Officer Robert Burns, 36, on the left side of his face, from his throat to his ear, and on his hand, authorities said.
“Fortunately, the knife missed the officer’s carotid artery by a fraction of an inch, and doctors predict that he will make a complete recovery,” Brown said in a statement.
Meeks was disarmed when Burns’ partner, Shannon Pearl, 32, opened fire, striking him in the right elbow, prosecutors said.
Burns, who is assigned to the 113th Precinct Street Narcotics Unit, was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in stable condition. He was expected to be released on Wednesday, a hospital spokesman said.
His partner was unhurt.
Meeks, who was in stable condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital, would face up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted of all the charges against him, including fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
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