NYPD officers pack courtroom in trial of man accused of shooting rookie colleague

By means of Emma Seiwell and Leonard Greene

Source Daily news from New York

A rookie officer shot and injured in a collision with a menacing Queens bus driver is still dealing with his injuries more than 18 months later, his union chief said Thursday.

The fresh-faced Brett Boller, then 22 years old, was just months into his dream job as an NYPD officer when he encountered an armed passerby who shot him in the hipchanged his life and career forever.

“I recently spoke with Officer Boller and he told me what he had been through over the past year and a half,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said this ahead of the suspect’s trial in Queens Criminal Court.

‘Three operations, constant physiotherapy. He said to me: the things that were once routine are no longer routine. He relied on others to do the basic things in life: get out of bed, change his clothes.”

Police packed the courtroom where jury selection began in the trial Devin Spraggins23, who is accused of opening fire on Boller after the officer confronted Spraggins on a Parsons Blvd. bus in April 2023.

Prosecutors said Spraggins had been harassing a passenger about a seat when the driver stopped Boller and his partner to intervene.

The dispute quickly spilled from the bus onto the street, where Boller chased the suspect. Spraggins pulled out a gun and shot the officer in the hip during the ensuing scuffle, police said.

“Put yourself in his shoes, only 22 years old, a healthy New York City police officer,” Hendry said. “He had to learn step by step how to do the basic things of life again. He is on the way back, but he is still in pain every day. He still can’t run… because of this dangerous person standing trial here today.”

He emphasized that Spraggins is a dangerous man.

“He didn’t think twice about carrying a loaded firearm through the streets of Jamaica, Queens,” Hendry said. “He didn’t think twice about terrorizing people on a bus in New York City. He didn’t think twice about shooting a New York City police officer in full uniform in broad daylight. This person changed a police officer’s life forever.”

Boller, the son of NYPD Inspector Dan Boller, is back on limited duty and doing desk work, officials said. The plan is for him to be promoted to detective.

His father was among the police officers who gathered in the courtroom to hear a prosecutor and defense attorney make opening arguments.

The defendant’s attorney, Michael Horn, said Spraggins was just trying to get away. He said his client thought he was pointing the gun at the ground when he fired it, and was not trying to kill the officer.

“He’s not trying to hurt anyone,” Horn said. ‘He’s trying to escape. He’s trying to get home to his family and his child.’

But Eric Weinstein, an assistant district attorney, said Spraggins knew what he was doing.

“This defendant shot Officer Boller without warning or threat,” Weinstein said. “Just a pure and utter sneak attack.”

Weinstein said Spraggins pulled the trigger again, but luckily the gun was empty.

According to the ADA, the magazine fell out of Spraggins’ gun during the chase, leaving only one round in the chamber.

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