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Cops attempted to pull Sheppard over at 131st Avenue and 235th Street in Laurelton.
By Forum Staff
A Long Island man has been indicted by a borough grand jury for allegedly intentionally slamming into a police car and shoving it with so much force that it nearly struck a detective standing outside the vehicle. The incident occurred in late January 2021, when police were attempting to pull over the defendant—a target of a long-term drug investigation—during a traffic stop, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.
Antoine Sheppard, 52, was arraigned Friday morning on a 36-count indictment charging him with attempted murder in the first degree, conspiracy in the second and fourth degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer, attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, criminal mischief in the second and third and reckless driving. Sheppard was ordered to return to court on May 11.
Sheppard faces up to 40 years to life in prison if convicted.
Additionally charged in the indictment are brothers Brian Grant, 56, and Darion Grant, both of Jamaica. The defendants were arraigned last month on conspiracy in the second and fourth degree, criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree. Darion Grant is additionally charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Both men were ordered to return to court on May 11.
If convicted, Brian and Darion Grant face up to 25 years in prison.
According to the charges, from May 2020 through January 2021, law enforcement obtained court-authorized warrants to eavesdrop on the mobile phones of defendants Brian Grant, Darion Grant and Sheppard. Listening in on calls, surveillance and other investigative tools, law enforcement uncovered a drug-dealing network with all three defendants buying and selling heroin and cocaine in and around Jamaica, Laurelton, and South Jamaica.
DA Katz said law enforcement observed people buying drugs allegedly from the three defendants. Those buyers were then stopped by police, who confiscated the drugs that were purchased.
In early January 2021, said the DA, police became aware of a major drug delivery that Sheppard was scheduled to make. Investigators followed Sheppard—who was behind the wheel of a Range Rover—and attempted to pull him over at 131st Avenue and 235th Street in Laurelton. The police, in multiple vehicles, boxed in the Range Rover. That’s when Sheppard allegedly reversed the vehicle and slammed it into the police car behind him. Then, he threw the car back into drive and accelerated to push the car in front of him forward enough to squeeze between the vehicles. The unmarked police car that was pushed lurched forward, nearly hitting a detective who was standing by the vehicle.
Katz said that Sheppard abandoned the SUV several blocks away. He was apprehended several weeks later in Nassau County.
“Every single day our police officers risk their lives protecting the public,” Katz said. “The detective—doing his job investigating drug trafficking in Queens—could have been killed if the nearly two-ton car slammed into him.”
