By T.J. Pignataro - NEWS STAFF REPORTER
The Buffalo (NY) News
An undercover State Police trooper suffered a concussion Tuesday when he was deliberately run over by a car while attempting to thwart a drug deal at Grant and Amherst streets, authorities said.
Senior Investigator Joseph M. Commisso, a 15-year State Police veteran, and an unnamed colleague witnessed a drug deal involving four men -- two in a car and two in a pickup truck -- at about 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Tops Plaza, police said.
“They observed what appeared to be a narcotics transaction in this area,” said Maj. Christopher L. Cummings, the newly appointed commander for Troop A. “One of the operators of the vehicles sped away, striking down [Commisso].”
Struck by the car, Commisso was thrown onto the hood and then over the windshield and top of the car, Cummings said.
Commisso, who works out of the Batavia barracks, was admitted to Erie County Medical Center. He suffered abrasions, cuts and bruises to his head and a slight concussion, Cummings said. Police said his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Cummings believes the driver of the car intentionally struck Commisso.
“There are a number of witnesses that said intent was definitely involved,” Cummings said.
Sharon Hill, a recent criminal-justice graduate from Buffalo State College, assisted in apprehending the two men.
Hill, of Buffalo, was leaving the nearby Tops Market when she saw Commisso being struck by the car.
“I was putting food in my car and I saw the car hit [Commisso] and then speed out of Tops’ [parking lot],” she said.
After striking Commisso, the two men in the car somehow made off with his gun, then sped off onto Grant Street. However, they bailed out of the car, which developed three flat tires, shortly after crossing the overpass of the Scajaquada Expressway near Buffalo State, according to reports.
Hill, who had followed them, spotted the abandoned car on the other side of the overpass, where one man fled on foot while the other was pacing the sidewalk across the street, she said. Hill said the windshield of the car was broken where it had struck Commisso. After the two men had fled, she peered inside the car, saw Commisso’s handgun and called police.
“I knew something had to be done,” she said.
Buffalo police and Buffalo State campus safety officers tracked down and arrested the two men. The two men in the pickup truck were also arrested one by Commisso’s partner, the other by police in the City of Tonawanda, where he fled.
The names of the four suspects were not released.
Copyright 2007 The Buffalo News