3 Arrests Made in Case of Man Shot 6 Times in Chelsea

CHELSEA, NY — Chelsea on a Sunday night isn't just all High Line tourists and bougie wine bar dinners, it can also be a shooting and a car chase. A group of undercover cops patrolling Chelsea the night of Sunday, Oct. 16 heard several shots ring out near West 22nd Street, then performed a car chase through Flatiron and arrested three men suspected in the shooting, according to the NYPD.

The victim, whose name the NYPD didn't reveal, was shot six times on West 22nd St. at around 1 A.M. in the morning. Three Brooklyn men were arrested and charged in the shooting — 38-year-old Ramel Harkless, 43-year-old Joseph Saunders, and 46-year-old Barry Wiles.

The undercover officers in plainclothes and an unmarked car were on West 22nd St. when they heard the shots and saw a man run towards a black Mercedes which was double parked and then drove off, according to an account by Stephen Spataro, executive officer of the Midtown South precinct.

The undercover officers then followed the black Mercedes for several blocks going east and crashed into it at 19th Street and Park Avenue South, Spataro said. The officers surrounded the Mercedes and arrested the three men in it. They recovered a semi-automatic handgun, silver and black, in the back seat of the car, Spataro said. The NYPD released a photo of the handgun.

The victim was shot in the torso, leg, and groin. He was in critical but stable condition Monday and in surgery at Bellevue Hospital, the NYPD said.

Photo credit: Courtesy of NYPD