New York City – A hero NYPD detective who was shot over $20 while washing his car in Brooklyn in 1990 has died after spending more than three decades in a coma, law-enforcement sources told The New York Post on Sunday.
Officer Troy Patterson was just 27, newly engaged and off-duty when he was ambushed by three armed thugs looking for a few bucks outside PS 3 in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
He was a six year veteran of the force at the time and had already racked up seven commendations for police work when he was shot in the head with a .38-caliber pistol during the robbery attempt.
Patterson had been washing his car at a fire hydrant three blocks from his home when he was shot. He remained in a vegetative state until he died Saturday night, sources said.
Patterson was promoted to detective in 2016.
The three suspects — Vincent Robbins, Tracey Clark and Darien Crawford — were later arrested in the shooting.
Robbins, now 53, was convicted of assault and attempted-robbery charges and sentenced to a prison term of five to 15 years. He was released in 2000, state records show.
Clark, the alleged gunman in the shooting, also went to trial in the case. The outcome of the case is not immediately available, nor are any details of the charges against Crawford.
Although Patterson never regained consciousness, New York’s Finest never forgot the Brooklyn cop.
“Detective Troy Patterson was a hero of New York City, who inspired hundreds of fellow Detectives to continue his courageous, important crime-fighting work,” said Paul DiGiacomo, head of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, in a statement Sunday.
“Troy’s legacy will forever be one of service and sacrifice. The DEA will ensure he and his family are never forgotten.”
