According to law-enforcement sources, 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.
Officer Troy Patterson was just 27 years old, newly engaged, and off-duty when he was ambushed outside PS 3 in Bedford-Stuyvesant by three armed thugs looking for a few dollars.
During the botched robbery, the six-year department veteran, who had already received seven commendations for his work, was shot in the head with a.38-caliber pistol.
The terrified suspects fled the scene of the shooting, leaving Patterson’s wallet behind.
The hero cop, who was washing his car at a fire hydrant three blocks from his home when he was shot, died Saturday night, according to sources.
In 2016, Patterson was promoted to detective.
Vincent Robbins, Tracey Clark, and Darien Crawford, the three suspects in the unprovoked shooting, were later apprehended.
Robbins, now 53, was convicted of assault and attempted robbery and sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. According to state records, he was released in 2000.
Clark, the alleged shooter in the shooting, was also tried in the case. The outcome of the case is not yet known, nor are any details about Crawford’s charges.
Despite the fact that Patterson never regained consciousness, New York’s Finest will never forget 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, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, in a statement issued Sunday.
“Troy’s legacy will be one of service and sacrifice for the rest of his life.” The DEA will make certain that he and his family are never forgotten.”
During a vigil for Patterson in January 2022, NYPD Assistant Chief Judith Harrison stated, “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 explained. “However, when we gather here, we put action behind those words.” So we’re here to commemorate Troy and to pray for a miracle more than 30 years later.