A teenager was found guilty Monday of assault in the first degree after dragging an NYPD officer with a stolen car back in 2017, according to the district attorney's office.
Justin Murrel, 17, was also acquitted of an attempted murder charge.
Prosecutors had argued that Detective Dalsh Veve was nearly killed because of it.
Murrel was 15 years old when he was driving a stolen car in June 2017. Veve had approached the car and started asking questions, and instead of answering, the prosecution says Murrel chose to turn the stolen car into a lethal weapon and drove off. Veve was still holding onto it and was dragged for two blocks.
Prosecutors say Veve was able to shoot Murrel in the face before crashing. Fellow officers rushed Veve to the hospital.
The defense argued there was no way for Murrel to know that Veve would have held onto the car for that long and claimed he never intended to injure him so badly.
Prosecutors say Veve cannot dress or bathe himself and is in a wheelchair. They also say he does not always recognize his wife or daughter.
The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch says it was wrong for the jury to not find Murrel guilty of attempted murder.
The DA's office says even though the jury did not come back with an attempted murder charge, it's like a top count conviction since attempted murder and assault in the first degree both carry up to 10 years for juvenile offenders.