By Fatma Khaled and Rocco Parascandola
New York Daily News
NEW YORK CITY — A Brooklyn cop horrifically injured when he was dragged more than two blocks by a car thief got an early Christmas gift Friday — in the form of a paid-off mortgage.
Det. Dalsh Veve, sat in his wheelchair at One Police Plaza, where he learned the Tunnel to Towers Foundation was taking care of the mortgage on the Long Island home he shares with his wife and daughter.
His traumatic brain injury leaves Veve virtually unable to speak, but his wife Esther, a nurse, was blown away by the gesture.
“Having our mortgage paid is taking weight off my shoulders,” she said. “No more concerns. No more reminders.”
“The mortgage being paid is great freedom to me.”
Frank Siller, who heads the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, said Veve’s survival is inspiring.
“Your resilience is remarkable,” he said. “You showed us how to live.
Veve’s mortgage, he added, is one of 36 the foundation is paying off this holiday season to ease the burden for the families of cops and military members killed or badly injured in the line of duty.
The foundation is named for Siller’s brother, Stephen Siller, an FDNY firefighter who sprinted through the Battery Tunnel on Sept. 11, 2001 and died in the attack on the Twin Towers.
Veve’s life changed forever on June 3, 2017.
Then a plainclothes officer assigned to the 67th Precinct, Veve responded to a call of shots fired near E. 53rd St. and Tilden Ave. in East Flatbush.
There were no shots, it turned out — just fireworks at a house party.
But when Veve started questioning the teenager behind the wheel of a black Honda Civic parked outside the party, the driver hit the gas and dragged Veve more than two blocks.
The cop held on for dear life, fired a shot that struck the motorist, Justin Murrell, 15, in the jaw before falling from the car.
https://twitter.com/MackRosenberg/status/1340015800263061505
Murrell was later arrested, but he acquitted of the top charge, attempted murder. He was convicted of assault but was given a sentence of no more than four years, outraging Veve’s wife and the NYPD. He was released earlier this year.
Esther Veve, focuses on her life husband and their daughter Darshee, who was only two when her dad was hurt.
“We take one day at a time,” she said. “I count my blessings every day.”
Commissioner Dermot Shea said Det. Veve “was determined to fight crime and to keep people safe.”
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