A 24-year-old Pennsylvania man identified as Matthew Cash aimed an Audi A8 at two NY NJ Port Authority police officers at the entrance of the Holland Tunnel earlier this evening while exclaiming that he wanted to 'take out' a police officer. The officers were not hit, but one police car was badly damaged.
According to Port Authority spokesperson Joe Pentangelo, Mr. Cash struck two civilian cars, drove down the fire lane separating Hudson St. from the Holland Tunnel entrance, and then aimed at two police officers. He missed and hit their car instead, at which point he was removed from the vehicle.
There's no direct quote as to what the suspect said, but it was something along the lines of 'he wanted to take out a police officer.' He also apparently said that he had taken a 'quantity' of PCP. Police did find synthetic marijuana in his car.
Photos taken by Michael Roselli of the Manhattan Classic Car Club and posted to Kinja show numerous police cruisers and a wrecked car near where officers usually stand.
The Manhattan Classic Car Club is right in front of a small street where officers monitor cars going into the tunnel and Roselli says he was working when the Port Authority Police asked them to move their cars.
From the post:
It's usually pretty quiet, but tonight, we heard 3 extremely loud knocks at our door. It was the Port Authority police. We had a vehicle on Broome street, which we sometimes do (after checking with the Port Authority police, of course) but it had to be moved NOW.
I grabbed the keys, ran to the door, and once I was outside I noticed an Audi SLAMMED into one of the cop cars. It seems that the motorist was headed to the tunnel, hit something on the driver's side of the vehicle (no idea what), then quote "aimed" for the Port Authority police.
The cops wrestled this guy out of his Audi, and swiftly put him in the rear of the police cruiser. He was repeatedly kicking the window while in the back of the car.
The suspect is now at Bellevue Hospital undergoing evaluation to determine what drugs are in his system and he's been charged with attempted aggravated assault and making terroristic threats.
UPDATE: Mr. Cash and another woman were taken away in ambulances, according to Zac Moseley of the Manhattan Classic Car Club. It's not clear if the woman was a passenger or in another vehicle.
Photos: Michael Roselli