The suspect busted for shooting a rookie cop in a bizarre incident over a Queens bus seat sparked the violent confrontation by attacking a fellow strap-hanger moments after climbing aboard, police said Friday.
Defendant Devin Spraggins was charged with the attempted murder of second-generation NYPD Officer Brett Boller and criminal possession of a weapon after the unprovoked dispute spilled from the bus onto the street.
The suspect was arrested within 30 hours of the shooting after police tracked him to Bronx residence through social media and video, said NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig at a news conference.
“He did not evade our reach,” said Essig, adding the suspect was also charged with obstruction of governmental administration.
Spraggins boarded the bus at 160th St. and Parsons Blvd this past Wednesday and immediately approached a random rider as they drove down a Queens street, said Essig.
“Why are you looking at me? You’re in my seat!” said Spraggins, with the fight escalating from there.
The bus driver then flagged down Boller, who boarded the bus before the suspect pushed him aside and bolted, said Essig, who had known the young officer’s NYPD father Inspector Don Boller for 15 years.
The younger Boller chased the suspect down, with Spraggins pulling a gun to shoot the officer in the leg during the ensuing scuffle. The wanted man immediately fled the scene on foot and changed his clothes before calling for a Lyft taxi and making his way to the Bronx, police said.
A source told the News that Don Boller was with police when Spraggins was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force in an apartment building on Bronx Blvd. His son was on the job for just three months before the shooting, said Essig.
Both the suspect and the victim were 22 years old, police said.
The wounded officer’s father “was not surprised by the swiftness of the arrest,” said Essig. “Now we turn our attention to the speedy recovery of his son.”
Spraggins, described as a transient with ties to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Georgia, was arrested Thursday evening without incident at a Bronx residence, said Essig.
A 9mm gun was recovered in the Bronx, with ballistic tests to determine if it was the weapon used in the shooting.