Charges Filed In Robbery And Shooting At 88th Precinct Officers In Bed-Stuy

All three young men who were allegedly involved in the robbery of 88th Precinct plainclothes cops on Sunday night have been arrested and officially charged with offenses ranging from second degree armed robbery and fourth degree grand larceny to petit larceny, menacing, and harassment.

Altron Atwater, 20, of Crown Heights, Demeris Pittman, 16, of Bed-Stuy, and Paul Moore, 15, of Canarsie, each face numerous charges. Police say that all three “act[ed] in concert [to] forcefully remove the detective’s cellphone during the robbery.”

Atwater had been shot in the altercation with plainclothes officers from the 88th Precinct — who were reportedly in Bed-Stuy investigating a different case when the encounter occurred — and he was injured in the arm and body, being taken to Kings County Hospital for treatment.

According to the New York Daily News, the police had been engaged in a sting operation to lure Craigslist scammers out into the open outside the Metropolitan Citymarket on Bedford Avenue when Atwater, Pittman, and Moore showed up and brandished what turned out to be a BB gun in an effort to steal one of the detective’s phones. That was when the officer, Detective Anthony Barbee, shot Atwater in the stomach and arm.

Gothamist noted that Barbee had previously been one of six officers accused in a lawsuit of falsely arresting, beating, and failing to report misconduct against a 16-year-old male in 2011; that case had been settled for an undisclosed amount.