A hero NYPD detective who was shot over $20 while washing his car in Brooklyn in 1990 has d*ied after spending more than three decades in a coma.
Three armed thieves looking for money attacked Officer Troy Patterson outside of PS 3 in Bedford-Stuyvesant when he was off-duty and only 27 years old.
The officer had been with the department for six years and had already won seven awards for his work. During the failed robbery, he was shot in the head with a.38-caliber pistol.
The panicked suspects ran away after the shooting, but Patterson’s wallet was still there.
The brave police officer was shot while washing his car at a fire hydrant three blocks from his home. He was left in a vegetative state until he di*ed.
In 2016, Patterson was made a detective.
Three people were later caught in the unprovoked shooting: Vincent Robbins, Tracey Clark, and Darien Crawford.
Robbins, who is now 53 years old, was found guilty of assault and attempted robbery and given a prison sentence of five to fifteen years. State records show that he was freed in 2000.
Previous news stories have shown that Clark, the shooter, and Crawford, who were both minors when they were arrested, were also found guilty. It wasn’t clear right away what their sentences were.
On Monday, a representative for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said that all three of their cases were now being looked at.
Patterson never came back to, but New York’s finest never forgot about the Brooklyn cop.
Paul DiGiacomo, head of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, said in a statement Sunday, “Detective Troy Patterson was a hero of New York City. He inspired hundreds of fellow Detectives to continue his brave and important work fighting crime.”
“Troy’s legacy will always be one of sacrifice and service.” He and his family will never be forgotten by the DEA.
In January 2022, NYPD Assistant Chief Judith Harrison spoke at a vigil for Patterson. She said, “We come here every year to honor his life, to celebrate his life, to let his family and to let him know we will not forget.”
“The Police department has a saying, ‘We will not forget,’ ” Harrison said. “But when we gather here what we do is we put action behind those words. So we’re here to celebrate Troy, we’re here hoping for a miracle more than 30 years later.
“We will never forget.”
