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In a Joyous Milestone, Officer Who Cheated Death Heads Home

Detective Dalsh Veve exited a West Orange, N.J., rehabilitation facility on Monday to the sounds of cheers and bagpipes.Credit...Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

WEST ORANGE, N.J. — Nearly a year ago, a New York City police officer, Dalsh Veve, was flung from a fleeing car in Brooklyn and injured so grievously his family and colleagues did not know whether he would live or die.

But the officer hung on, despite a catastrophic brain injury and a grave prognosis. For his bravery, the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, promoted him to detective in October.

Months passed. Detective Veve’s medical condition slowly improved as he was transferred from Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn to the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J. In time, he began to recognize visitors.

On Monday, his wife, Mathes Esther Veve, a nurse, escorted him out of the picturesque rehab facility and into a minivan for a trip home to continue his recovery at their house on Long Island, where the neighbors always hoped to see him again.

At 2:30 p.m., under a blue sky marked only by a New York Police Department helicopter, Detective Veve, 36, was taken in a wheelchair out Kessler’s front doors and into the rising sounds of bagpipes and cheers from dozens of officers and medical workers who had gathered outside.

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“He just gave us the thumbs up. We’re hoping he continues to progress and I think he will,” the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, said of Detective Veve’s remarkable recovery.Credit...Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Dressed in jeans, sneakers and a baseball cap — his 3-year-old daughter, Darshee, seated on his lap — Detective Veve paused a moment as Mr. O’Neill, several top chiefs and Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, looked on and clapped.

“It’s just such a great day for his family and for the N.Y.P.D,” said Mr. O’Neill, as the officers, in a mix of dress blues and windbreakers, broke ranks to return to their own vehicles, vans and a bus, for the trip back to New York City.

“He’s whispering,” the commissioner said of Detective Veve, recalling how irreversible his injuries first appeared. “He just gave us the thumbs up. We’re hoping he continues to progress and I think he will.”

It has been a long road from the life-threatening episode on June 3 on Tilden Street in East Flatbush to Monday’s joyous milestone.

That Saturday, at around 11:50 p.m., Officer Veve and other plainclothes officers from the 67th Precinct responded to 911 calls reporting gunshots. Officer Veve turned his attention to a black Honda sedan parked in front of a fire hydrant, about half a block east of East 53rd Street. A 15-year-old, Justin Murrell, was at the wheel, officials said, and as Officer Veve tried to question him he hit the gas and sped off.

Officer Veve tried to hang on to the driver’s side of the car, but he was thrown off as Mr. Murrell wove through the residential blocks at speeds as fast as 56 miles per hour, Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, later said.

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His daughter on his lap and his wife, Mathes Esther Veve, by his side, Detective Veve exited the rehabilitation facility where he’s been working hard for months to regain the ability to walk. “This recovery’s going to go on for the rest of his life,” Dr. Neil N. Jasey said.Credit...Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

Officials said Officer Veve fired two shots into the car before falling off. His colleagues carried him to their car and drove him to Kings County Hospital Center. He had severe brain injuries, a broken shoulder and other trauma.

A Haitian immigrant, he had joined the police force in 2011. “He represents the American dream — an immigrant child came here, joined the greatest police force in the country and has been an exemplary officer,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in the hours after the shooting.

One of the bullets hit Mr. Murrell in the mouth and lodged in his jaw. He sought treatment at Kings County, but ran off after seeing officers massed in front. He then took a car service to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. The police later determined that he had been the driver of the Honda, which had been reported stolen in Valley Stream on Long Island.

The case against Mr. Murrell, now 16, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assaulting a police officer, has yet to be resolved, Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, said on Monday. Two passengers in the car pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution, Mr. Yaniv said.

On Monday, Dr. Neil N. Jasey, the center’s director of brain injury rehabilitation, said Detective Veve’s injuries were so severe when he arrived that doctors did not initially anticipate he would recover as quickly as he has. Though he has a slow gait and some problems with balance, Detective Veve now walks with a “rolling walker,” talks and eats three meals a day. “This is beyond,” Dr. Jasey said.

Dr. Jasey said Detective Veve’s injury was similar to what a rock climber might suffer after a violent fall. He said a mix of factors helped Detective Veve survive: the quick work of emergency medical workers the night he was hurt; the skill of the neurosurgeons who first treated him; support from his family and fellow officers; and “his own internal drive.” His wife visited almost every day, Dr. Jasey said, and his colleagues have retrofitted his house in North Baldwin, N.Y., adding ramps, a chairlift to a second-floor bedroom and a new bathroom.

Still, the officer has a long way to go.

“This is kind of the first step,” said Dr. Jasey. “It’s a marathon and not a sprint. This recovery’s going to go on for the rest of his life.”

Follow Al Baker on Twitter: @bakeal

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: Joyous Homecoming for Officer Thrown Off Suspect’s Car in Brooklyn. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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