DA: Queens man indicted in shooting of NYPD cop from Hauppauge

The man who allegedly shot and wounded a rookie NYPD officer from Hauppauge last month has been indicted on attempted murder and other charges, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Devin Spraggins, 22, of Jamaica, Queens, pleaded not guilty before Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder to the charges in the April shooting of NYPD Officer Brett Boller, 22, a Hauppauge High graduate.

Holder ordered Spraggins held without bail. He is due back in court June 5.

If convicted, Spraggins faces up to 40 years to life in prison for each charge of first-degree attempted murder, prosecutors said.

"We will not let up in our efforts to get guns off the street and keep our officers and communities safe," said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in a statement.

When asked to comment after the arraignment, Richard Spivack, Spraggins’ defense attorney, said: “It’s not my practice to discuss pending criminal matters.”

The indictment charges Spraggins with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, aggravated assault of a police officer, assault of a police officer, first-degree attempted assault, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, menacing a police officer, two counts of tampering with physical evidence, second-degree obstructing governmental administration and third-degree assault.

The shooting happened about 3:20 p.m. April 5 after a man who prosecutors allege was Spraggins got into a verbal and physical dispute with another passenger on an MTA bus. The driver flagged down Boller and his partner, Officer Anthony Rock, who were both wearing body cameras, prosecutors have said.

The suspect pushed Rock and fled when the officers tried to question him. authorities said. Both officers chased him. He allegedly fired one shot, striking Boller, during a struggle on 161st Street, police said.

Afterward, Spraggins shed some of his clothing and cut his hair in order to evade authorities, prosecutors said. He was picked up by a Lyft car, and police eventually traced him to the Bronx. where he was arrested “without incident” April 6.

Prosecutors said Spraggins was within 2 feet of Boller when he fired, and the bullet penetrated the officer’s femoral artery and shattered his hip, causing a lack of blood flow to his leg. A doctor who treated Boller told prosecutors the officer “faced a substantial risk of death” without surgical intervention, according to court documents.

Spraggins admitted in a video-recorded police interview that he was the person in the photo who police identified as a suspect in the shooting, but said he didn’t fire the gun, prosecutors said. He told investigators he pushed an officer and ran away because he had a gun in his waistband, and it “went off.”

According to prosecutors, after Boller fell to the ground, Spraggins continued to point the gun at the officer and was “attempting to fire.” Spraggins, according to prosecutors, then “racked the slide of the gun” and took a “shooter’s stance” and pointed the weapon in the direction of Boller’s partner, also a rookie, before fleeing. Rock was not injured.

Police have said they recovered a 9 mm handgun at the Bronx residence where Spraggins was arrested and the magazine contained 15 rounds of ammunition.

Boller, the son of a veteran NYPD detective, was shot once in the hip. He was released from the hospital nine days after he was shot.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.