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They really took the scenic route.
The NYPD cops who blew a red light in a suspect’s impounded Mercedes nearly doubled the length of their trip from Harlem to Queens by taking a circuitous path through Brooklyn.
Cops drove at least 33 miles in the seized, $50,000 vehicle rather than taking a more direct route.
Officers got their hands on the sleek sports car at around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 3 — seizing it from driver Rashad Lewis outside Bloomingdale’s on the East Side after they allegedly found bogus credit cards inside.
A police spokesperson said the cops drove the car to a secure lot on West 126th Street in Harlem where more valuable vehicles are taken.
The cop who took it out to an impound lot in Springfield Gardens, Queens, the next day appears to have milked the time behind the wheel.
It was driven down the West Side Highway, where the cop blew a red light at 34th Street and got Lewis, 25, slapped with a $50 traffic-camera ticket.
The officer kept going south and took the Battery Tunnel en route to a property clerk’s office on Gold Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
“That facility directed the officers to an available Police Department facility in Queens where it was held until the suspect received and presented a DA’s release to retrieve the auto,” the spokesperson said.
So the cop continued to the final stop at least 18 miles away, depending on the route.
Lewis said the bizarre, three-borough trip supports his claim that police took his wheels on a “joy ride” — though the NYPD insisted yesterday that cops did nothing wrong.
“You don’t go from the Upper East Side to Springfield Gardens via 12th Avenue in Manhattan,” fumed Marvyn Kornberg, Lewis’ lawyer.
“They still haven’t told me the reason why it was on 12th Avenue even though I notified [Internal Affairs Bureau] a week ago. IAB gave us a log number for this case,” he said.
But the police spokesperson said Internal Affairs is not probing the incident.
Lewis also said the car was in perfect condition when it was seized, yet had scratches and a busted window when he got it back.
The NYPD insists Lewis had no complaints about the car’s condition when he picked it up.
“The owner inspected his property for damage and signed for the vehicle prior to removing it from the facility, indicating there was no additional damage,” a statement said.