Bucket Kills Officer in Tow-Away Dispute
A standoff between residents and police towing cars ended in the death of an officer who was hit in the head by a bucket of plaster pitched from a rooftop, police said.
Two vehicles were being hauled away Friday night in Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood when a hostile crowd of at least 100 people confronted police and tow truck operators.
Housing police officer John Williamson and other officers were called in to help. Williamson was standing by his car under a six-story building when someone threw the 30-pound bucket from the roof, hitting him in the head, a police spokeswoman said.
Williamson died at a hospital. Mayor David N. Dinkins and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly visited the hospital as he was dying.
“This young life is snuffed out because of a malicious criminal act,” Dinkins said. “It’s senseless.”
Police flooded the area after the incident in search of a suspect, but no arrests in the death of Williamson were made.
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