A purse-snatcher led cops on a wild car chase through two different police precincts in Brooklyn on Tuesday — nailing a 71-year-old woman and an NYPD squad car along the way — before ditching his vehicle and fleeing on foot, sources said.
The thief, who was eventually apprehended and arrested, had just robbed a local resident at a store in Williamsburg and sped off in a Dodge mini-van when authorities spotted him and began the pursuit, according to police sources.
Cops followed 36-year-old for several minutes, and at one point, called off the chase — but officers continued anyway and tailed the man from the 90th Precinct into the 79th, sources said.
As the pursuit unfolded, the suspect clipped several parked vehicles and then collided head-on with an NYPD squad car — injuring two cops who were inside, police said.
The man then came up on some cars at a red light, quickly jerked the mini-van to the right and hopped the curb. He cruised on the sidewalk for several seconds before hitting the 71-year-old as she stood along Myrtle Ave, sources said.
Amazingly, no one suffered any life threatening injuries.
The septuagenarian had been walking with a young girl near the Greater St. Stephen United Church of God at the time. She was later spotted crying at the scene as the woman was taken away in a stretcher.
After striking the trio with his vehicle, the man veered back onto the street, blew through another red light and made a right onto Tompkins Ave. He drove two blocks before making a left onto Willoughby Ave, where he ditched the mini-van and fled on foot, sources said.
Cops eventually found the suspect and took him into custody.
The purse he stole — which contained a wallet and phone charger — was found inside the abandoned vehicle, sources said.
The van was left near Throop Avenue with both the lights and music still on.
While the cops were treated for back pain, sources said the woman was knocked unconscious. She was later examined at Brooklyn Hospital.