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Off-duty FDNY EMT charged with assault, driving while impaired after headbutting officer

Nicholas McGowan told police he was on his way home after work when he crashed his vehicle

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Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — An off-duty FDNY EMT headbutted an NYPD cop after getting into a drunken crash on Staten Island early Tuesday, police said.

Cops responding to a minor collision on Dewey Ave. and Giffords Lane in Great Kills saw FDNY EMT Nicholas McGowan standing outside his car at about 1 a.m.

McGowan, who was unsteady on his feet, had bloodshot eyes and reeked of alcohol, said he was returning home from work when he got into the fender bender, according to cops.

He refused to take a breathalyzer test and cops arrested him. Once he was taken to Staten Island central booking, he allegedly headbutted a police officer.

This is not the first time McGowan has allegedly assaulted a police officer. In 2015 he was arrested for punching a cop at the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day parade, a police source said.

On Tuesday, cops charged McGowan with assault of a police officer, driving while impaired and refusal to take a breathalyzer test. His arraignment was pending in Staten Island Criminal Court.

The cop was taken to Staten Island University Hospital North with a minor injury.

An email to the FDNY for comment was not immediately returned.

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