The 20-year-old shot by an undercover detective during an alleged mugging in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Sunday had walked into a sting operation, according to a Daily News report. The detective and two others laid the trap to follow up on a Craigslist scam used to lure a robbery victim nearby shortly beforehand, according to the tabloid. Injured suspect Altron Atwater and two teenage boys allegedly showed up when the cops tried to lure the stickup team that had mugged a woman who responded to a fake rental ad.
The NYPD says that Detective Anthony Barbee and his fellow officers were near the corner of Bedford Avenue and Monroe Street at around 6:40 p.m. on Sunday when the trio of suspects approached. Cops say Atwater flashed a gun and demanded Barbee hand over his stuff, at which point Barbee shot him in the stomach and arm. Paramedics took Atwater to Kings County Hospital Center in stable condition, and Atwater's gun turned out to be a BB pistol.
Police have now charged Atwater and his alleged accomplices with robbery, grand larceny, menacing with a weapon, possession of a weapon, and harassment.
Court records show that Barbee was named in a federal lawsuit as one of six cops at Clinton Hill, Brooklyn's 88th Precinct involved in the alleged false arrest and beating of a 16-year-old in 2011. Lawyers for that teenager claimed that the officers arrested him without cause, punched and threw him, and roughly interrogated him before releasing him without charges. Barbee allegedly participated and failed to report the misconduct.
The city settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.
