An illegal Venezuelan migrant was arrested for allegedly shooting two NYPD cops while they were riding a scooter after they tried to stop him.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the illegal vehicle the wrong way on a one-way road in Queens overnight.
He allegedly responded by opening fire on officers using an unlicensed weapon before fleeing on foot shortly before 2 a.m., the NYPD said. One officer was hit in the leg while the other was shot in his bulletproof vest.
Although Castro-Mata has not been arrested before in New York City, police believe he is part of a group that has been using scooters to commit violent robberies.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, was arrested for allegedly driving an illegal scooter the wrong way on a one-way road in Queens overnight.
An illegal Venezuelan migrant was arrested for allegedly shooting two NYPD officers while they were riding a scooter after they tried to stop him, authorities said. (In the photo: Castro-Mata is taken on a stretcher from the scene of the shooting)
“We are investigating him for other robbery patterns in the Queens area, where he has other co-defendants,” NYPD Detective Joseph Kenny said during a briefing Monday morning.
In one incident, he is accused of attacking a woman and stealing her credit card, which was then used at a Queens tobacco store, according to NYPD records.
Castro-Mata entered the United States in July of last year through Eagle Pass, Texas, Kenny said. He has been staying at an migrant shelter on Ditmars Boulevard, near the area where the shooting occurred.
The teen was also shot in the ankle during the altercation with officers at 89th Street and 23rd Avenue in Elmhurst, and underwent surgery Monday morning at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
The NYPD said the unlicensed gun he allegedly used was recovered at the scene.
Photographs show Castro-Mata looking shocked as he was carried on a stretcher with his arms handcuffed behind his back.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, allegedly shot at officers with an illegal handgun (pictured) in East Elmhurst just before 2 a.m. Monday.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the illegal vehicle the wrong way on a one-way road in East Elmurst in Queens overnight. (In the photo: Castro-Mata is taken on a stretcher from the scene of the shooting)
Pictured: The scooter discarded at the crime scene after the shootout between Castro-Mata and two NYPD officers.
Another image shows three officers carrying him by his arms and legs while he grimaces. The discarded scooter can also be seen amid the carnage at the site.
The NYPD officers involved in the shooting were also filmed leaving Elmhurst Hospital in daylight several hours later.
Onlookers gave them a standing ovation as one was pushed in a wheelchair before getting into a police van, while the other got out and shook hands with his colleagues.
It comes after a bombshell report that 350,000 immigrants who entered the United States illegally had their cases dismissed in immigration courts, allowing them to walk free without a verdict on the merits of their entry.
A senior advisor to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Kerry Doyle, circulated a memo in 2022 instructing prosecutors to dismiss cases of immigrants who are not considered threats to national security, The New York Post first reported.
Another image shows three officers carrying Castro-Mata away from the crime scene in East Elmhurts, Queens, by his arms and legs while he grimaces.
Although Castro-Mata has not been arrested before in New York City, police believe he is part of a group that has been using scooters to commit violent robberies.
As a result, nearly 103,000 immigrants had their cases dismissed that year, allowing them to freely enter the United States without an immigration judge’s ruling on the merits of their asylum claim.
Later, in 2023, that number of dismissed cases skyrocketed to 149,000.
So far in fiscal year 2024, 114,000 cases have been concluded without a verdict, according to the report.
Under Biden’s leadership, a whopping 77 percent of immigrants seeking asylum have been allowed to remain in the United States, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC)a nonprofit organization that reviews immigration court records.
