Metro

NYPD officer dead, 2 critically injured in crash on FDR: sources

A young, off-duty NYPD officer who dreamed of one day becoming a detective was killed early Saturday in a horrifying one-car crash along FDR Drive.

Brooklyn-born cop Garman Chen was traveling “at a high rate of speed” north on the highway near East 23rd Street at about 2:30 a.m. when he lost control of his black 2016 Lexus, slamming into a barrier pole supporting a pedestrian footbridge, police and sources said.

The Midwood High School graduate, who was with the department just three years, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Injured were Chen’s two passengers: Kenneth Larkin, 25, an off-duty FDNY firefighter assigned to Ladder Co. 10 in Manhattan who suffered body trauma, and Amanda Remy, 25, whose right foot was severed, police sources said.





Both were taken to Bellevue and were listed in stable condition, police said. Larkin — who has been on the job for two months — and Remy are dating, an FDNY source said.

Footage obtained by The Post shows Chen flying down the northbound lane, and investigators told The Post he may have been “racing” the car driven by the cameraman.

The footage shows Chen’s Lexus passing another car on the left, and then moments later, zooming past a driver in a blue BMW on the right, and then losing control of his ride.

The BMW driver, “Justin,” was filming, and estimated he was traveling at 45-50 mph while Chen was “going 60, 70 (mph).” The speed limit on the FDR is 40 mph.





Friends struggled with news of Chen’s death.

“I still can’t believe the news and I’m still shaking from the phone call. Rest in Peace to my brother Garman. From High School, to Cadets to Brothers in Blue,” his friend Robert Lee wrote on Facebook. “Whether it was hanging out in [high school], waking up mad early to go to monthly training, passing around your study guides for the academy because you were the first to go in, or both dreaming about being detectives, I knew at the end of the day you had my back and I had yours.”

Childhood friend Steven Grant told The Post that Chen was always there for him — “no questions asked.”

“He was the best friend anyone could ever ask for. Whenever I needed him — he was there, Grant said, adding that the pair had known each other since attending P.S. 217 elementary school in Flatbush.





“I went to the hospital to confirm it wasn’t him … I didn’t want it to be him. I was like no, this isn’t Garman. This isn’t happening,” Grant’s sister said.

Chen, who lived in Midwood, was an extended part of the Grant family, she said, spending most holidays with them.

“Always helping everyone he sees,” she added.

Including those on four legs.

In September, he helped rescue a puppy found in Red Hook Park and return the pooch to his owner, a Facebook post from the precinct shows.

“Finally, it was the dogged efforts of Police Officers Chen and Gonzalez which made this a paw-fect day,” they wrote.

Chen was assigned to the 76th Precinct stationhouse in Carroll Gardens, where black and purple bunting hung above the entrance by late Saturday afternoon.





Nearby, merchants recalled a cop with a ready smile and hearty appetite.

“It’s tragic to see someone so young lose his life, especially someone like him,” said Gina Aquino, who works at Mazzola Bakery on Union Street, where Chen enjoyed salami sandwiches.





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