A fiery crash in the Bronx claimed the life of an off-duty NYPD officer and left a sergeant in critical condition Wednesday night, a law enforcement source said.
The sergeant, who was the driver of the car, was also off-duty at the time, a law enforcement source said. He was driving the 2012 Dodge Charger when it flipped off the road at City Island Road and Park Drive, or City Island Circle, about 11:45 p.m. The car then caught fire after it flipped, police said.
Two other off-duty police officers saw the crash as they were coming off an assignment in Rodman’s Neck, where the NYPD has a gun range, and were able to pull the sergeant out of the car, a police source said. He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center with trauma and burns on both legs, they said.
The off-duty officer, identified by police as Bianca Bennett, 27, of Queens, was pronounced dead at the scene. Bennett, who started the police academy in April 2016, was assigned to the 9th Precinct, cops said.
A law enforcement source described Bennett and the sergeant as acquaintances.
The off-duty officers who pulled over to help were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, but are OK, police said.
There were no other vehicles involved in the crash, police said.
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