NYPD shoots and kills man on Grand Central Parkway

A NYPD detective shot and killed an unarmed man in the Army National Guard today on the Grand Central Parkway after the driver was pulled over for weaving in and out of early-morning traffic, police said.

Queens DA Richard Brown’s office is now investigating, officials said.

Two Emergency Service Unit vehicles spotted the speeding Noel Polanco, 23, of Corona, in eastbound lanes at 5:15 a.m., near Exit 7 and LaGuardia Airport, authorities said.

Det. Hassan Hamdy and a sergeant walked up to Polanco’s black 2012 Honda Fit Hybrid and told him “show me your hands,” law enforcement sources said.

Moments later, Det. Hamby fired the one fatal shot into Polanco’s side, according to law enforcement sources.

It’s not clear if Polanco made any moves that could have sparked the shooting, according to NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

One of the car’s two female passengers, a bartender from the Ice Lounge in Astoria, said she saw Polano’s hands on the steering wheel moments before he was shot, according to Browne.

“The last thing she saw was his hands on the steering wheel,” Browne said

Investigators did not find a weapon in the car -- only a power drill on the floor of the driver’s seat, according to Browne.

Polanco, who also worked at the Ice Lounge, was rushed to New York Hospital of Queens where he was pronounced dead at 5:58 a.m.   The car’s two female passengers were not injured, sources said. All three people had just left the Ice Lounge, they told cops.

Polano did not immediately slow down when officers turned on their lights and siren, prompting an argument between he and his bartender passenger.

“ `Why [pull over]? I’m not doing anything wrong,’ “ Polanco allegedly snapped, according to Browne.

A third person in the car, an off-duty NYPD cop, was asleep in the back seat before she was jarred away by the blast.

The ESU officers were on their way to serve a search warrant in Brooklyn when they spotted the speeding car.

Polanco, who was in the Army National Guard Reserves, was still getting over the death of his father, who committed suicide a few weeks ago, friends said.

“He was a great kid,” said Polanco’s pal Tito Cordero, 27. “He is an an outgoing cool guy - very easy to get along with. He wasn't rowdy.”

Cordero can’t imagine how Polanco could have forced the shooting.

“He doesn't drink. I don't see him provoking the cop,” said Cordero, who shared a passion for cars with Polanco. “It doesn't make any sense for him to run if he has a military ID.

“If he was a rapist or a killer I couldn't care less, but he was a good guy.”

Another friend and car enthusiast, 26-year-old Joseph Thomas, said Polanco never carried any weapons.

"He was down-to-earth. He never got in trouble. His father died a few weeks ago. He committed suicide so he was supporting his mom,” Thomas said.

“It just break my hearts. It is always the good ones to go soon, never the ones doing dumb stuff here.”

The off-duty cop, identified as Vanessa Rodriguez, immediately identified herself as an NYPD officer.

Rodriguez, 29, had been placed on restricted duty in June, after her arrest for shoplifting at the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst, law enforcement sources said.

She previously was assigned to the 102nd Precinct station house in Richmond Hill, Queens.

The off-duty cop said she went to the Ice Lounge after her friend, the bartender, texted her an invite to drop by, police said.

The bartender served Rodriguez one shot of Hennessy cognac, before they all hit the road, according to police.

NY POST