A Bronx Emergency Service Unit sergeant lauded as a hero by Mayor Giuliani a decade ago was arrested for drunken driving yesterday, sources said.
Washington Zurita, 38, was off-duty at 4:44 a.m. when he got in a fender-bender at 167th Street and Boston Road. Cops determined that Zurita was drunk, sources said.
On June 6, 1997, Zurita was a rookie cop assigned to the 44th Precinct on his first night of official duty when he was shot in the hand during a struggle over a .380 semiautomatic pistol with robbery suspect Lavaughn Knowings.
The bullet fired by Knowings tore through Zurita’s left hand and exited his forearm, but Zurita still managed to pull his own gun and fatally shoot Knowings.