On the morning of Dec 10, 2009, there was a dramatic but deadly game of cops and bad apples in Times Square, New York.

The chase through the tourist clogged Broadway streets ended at the main entrance of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, with police sergeant Christopher Newsom shooting Raymond Martinez (25), a Bronx resident, who later died at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center.

For the record, Martinez tried to escape, but when cornered, he pulled out a Mac-10 sem-automatic pistol and shot twice (his bullets didn’t hurt anyone). In response, Sergeant Newsom shot 4 times, resulting in the death of Raymond Martinez.

This brings us to the question of why this happened. Turns out that Martinez was part of a group which was scamming tourists in Times Square. They would approach someone, ask their name, then write it down on a CD and demand $10 for it.

The chase and the shootout took place in the middle of a swirl of tourists, and it has already made news headlines. With New Year’s eve around the corner, Times Square is the single most important tourist destination in the world this month, and neither New York City nor the US can afford this kind of bad publicity.

Martinez was without any doubt a very bad apple, but the way it ended is something that  the NYPD and the Big Apple would do well to ensure doesn’t again.

NYPD photo by Joi

Posted on December 11th, 2009 by PLing
Filed under: New York