The French Connection witness story

A suspected assassin took the lives of four civilians Sunday afternoon during a high-speed pursuit that stretched from 35^th St. to 15^th St. New York City Police Detective Jimmy “Popeye Doyle ended the criminals massacre at the 15^th St. Station of the elevated railway with a single bullet of his revolver.

The New York City Police suspect 36-year-old Pierre Jeantot is associated with a crime syndicate of a major heroin shipment from France to New York City. According to police commissioner Ruth L. Ess, two other men are suspects for their involvement in the smuggling operation.

According to police and eyewitness accounts, the Nice, France native opened fire from the rooftop of Doyle’s apartment building at 1767 W. 57^th Ave. “Four shots were fired before Doyle took cover behind a tree,” said witness Sam Cordeiro, 20, of Brooklyn. Jeantot fired one more shot that barely missed Doyle’s foot, Cordeiro added.

The fourth shot struck Jeantot’s first victim, civilian Betty B. Badluck, 63. The criminal shot and killed the Brox resident while she was walking her granddaughter past Doyle’s apartment building.

Panting on the root of the oak tree, Doyle removed his .38 caliber service revolver from the ankle holster. After a few seconds of ceasefire, he darted to the side of the brick building in pursuit of Jeantot, hugging the wall as he crept. The detective made his way to the roof of the building when he discovered an abandoned rifle and several shell casings strewn by a railing overlooking the street.

On the right, Doyle looked down, saw Jeantot sprinting away from the building, and started after him. “Doyle chased the criminal across the street and onto the platform of the 35^th St. elevated railway station,” said Cordeiro.

On the opposite platform, concealed by the passing of the train, Jeantot turned to camouflage himself with the other bystanders, according to witness Jennifer Ross, 23, of Manhattan. Seeking an opportunity to escape Doyle, Jeantot boarded the train.

Unable to open fire for risk of striking a civilian, Doyle pleaded for the conductor to stop the train, but it was too late. ‘Stop that man, he’s wanted by the police!’, Ross recalled hearing Doyle shout.

As the train pulled away, Doyle thought of another plan to avoid losing sight of Jeantot. According to witness Leah Saunders, 30, of the Bronx, he exited the platform and flagged down a man in a tan Chevrolet, climbed into his car, and sped off in the opposite direction of the one-way traffic.

Aboard the train, passenger Michael Ricca, 24, of Harlem recalled several train security personnel chasing Jeantot through multiple train cars. When the criminal could no longer escape, he turned around and opened fire striking New York City Police veteran Ronald Evans. He was 34 and served for the N.Y.P.D. for 15 years.

Jeantot proceeded to enter into the conductor booth and held a gun to the head of conductor Horatio C. Hornblower, 30, of White Plains. The hijacker demanded that Hornblower keep driving without stopping at the next station. Hornblower fearfully complied with the hijacker before going into cardiac arrest and dying at the controls.

Beneath the elevated train tracks, Doyle kept pace with the runaway train. While speeding in and out of lanes he was struck on the right side by a woman running a red light, witness Kelsey Durato, 20, saw while walking out of a nearby grocery store. There was no critical damage to either driver and the woman did not have a passenger.

“The speeding car continued the pursuit in the high-traffic roadway at about 75 M.P.H.,” said Durato.

Unable to stop the speeding train, Jeantot raised his gun to the horrified passengers awaiting his next move. The train was quickly approaching an inactive train stationed on the tracks in front of it.

“He warned the personnel not to come any closer or he would shoot,” said Ricca. When 27-year-old Peter Howe of Queens stepped forward to reason with the criminal, Jeantot opened fire, striking Howe in the chest from no more than ten feet away.

The runaway train struck the stationary train and hurled the passengers forward wildly; Jeantot’s head struck the window. Jeantot seized the opportunity of the distracted passengers to pry open a door and slip himself out onto the tracks. Unknown to Jeantot, Doyle watched his every move from below.

Jeantot rounded the corner to descend the stairs of the platform when he saw Doyle at the bottom of the stairs; the revolver gripped at the end of his outstretched arm.

“Freeze!”, witness Ericka Dupervil, 21, heard Doyle shout.

As the criminal turned to run, Doyle opened fire into Jeantot’s back and sent his lifeless body tumbling backwards down the concrete flight of stairs.

According to police Commissioner Ess, Doyle’s use of deadly force was justified under the circumstances. By the end of his spree, Jeantot shot and killed a bystander, two train conductors, and one police patrolman. Police recovered a .44 Magnum revolver from the train. The N.Y.P.D. suspects that Jeantot was assigned to assassinate Doyle.

Police Commissioner Ess commended Detective Doyle for his bravery and quick thinking under very trying circumstances.

“We will not sit still while drug dealers walk our streets,” said Commissioner Ess in a released statement. The N.Y.P.D. Narcotics Division promised to continue a vigorous and thorough investigation into the seemingly major smuggling operation.