NYPD to probe off-duty cop involved in road-rage incident

A Brooklyn man was shot dead by an off-duty cop during a road-rage incident in Brooklyn early Monday, authorities said.

The confrontation between Delrawn Small and NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs, both 37, unfolded at around midnight on Atlantic Avenue in East New York.

Small had turned from a side street onto Atlantic and became furious because he believed that Isaacs had cut him off.

Small allegedly chased the officer, who was wearing civilian clothing, about seven blocks along Atlantic Avenue until both men stopped at a traffic light at Bradford Street, with a taxi between them.

When the cabby pulled away, Small — who was traveling with his girlfriend, Zaquanna Albert, 35, their 5-month old son and one of Albert’s teenage daughters — allegedly jumped out of his car and charged over to Isaacs.

A police source said Small began punching Isaacs through the driver’s open window.

Issacs, who was heading home after a 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift at the 79th Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, pulled out his service weapon from underneath a white T-shirt and opened fire, sources said.

The three-year NYPD veteran let go three rounds, two of which hit Small in the head and chest, sources said.

He died at the scene.

Small, 37, had a long rap sheet listing 19 arrests, sources said.

He served three prison terms between 1996 and 2010, for attempted robbery, attempted drug sale to an undercover cop, and a stabbing.

A police source said that Albert told cops that her boyfriend had a hair-trigger temper, had downed three drinks at a barbecue before the incident and ignored her warning not to get out of his car.

She also told cops that Isaacs exited from his car before opening fire. But spent shell casings were found inside his vehicle, raising questions about her version of events, sources said.

“The officer was being assaulted and there was no opportunity for him to de-escalate the situation when someone ran across the street and attacked him. He’s a victim, trapped in his vehicle,” one police source said.

After the shooting, Albert drove a short distance away, apparently to protect the children and to park the car, which had been blocking traffic, according to other police sources and also her lawyer.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton wouldn’t say if he thought the shooting was justified.
“It’s too early to determine what transpired . . . before, during and then after the incident,” Bratton told reporters during an afternoon news conference on Randall’s Island.

The NYPD is investigating the shooting with the state Attorney General’s Office under an executive order signed last year by Gov. Cuomo that named AG Eric Schneiderman special prosecutor for all police killings of unarmed civilians, Bratton said.

Schneiderman’s office said it’s in contact with the NYPD, Small’s family and community leaders.

Last year, the city paid out $20,000 to settle a racially charged suit in which Isaacs and another officer were accused of beating a man who one of the cops allegedly called a “n—-r” on July 6, 2014, court records show.

Small’s adoptive mother, Geraldine Dempsey, blasted Isaacs, saying, “My son didn’t have a gun. It didn’t have to go that far. Whatever happened, I don’t know, but he didn’t have to grab his gun and shoot him in the head.”

Albert posted on Facebook, “Words can’t begin to explain the pain I feel right now.’’

Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton, Lorena Mongelli and Tom Wilson