A teenage Venezuelan migrant has been arrested for allegedly shooting two young NYPD cops after they tried to pull him over while he was riding a scooter.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the unregistered motorbike the wrong way down a one-way highway in Queens overnight.
He allegedly responded by opening fire on the officers using an unlicensed gun before fleeing on foot at around 1.40am, NYPD said. One officer was struck in the leg while the other sustained a shot to their bulletproof vest.
Although Castro-Mata has not previously been arrested in New York City, police believe he is part of a group which has been using mopeds and scooters to commit violent robberies.
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, was pulled over for allegedly driving an illegal scooter the wrong way down a one-way highway in Queens overnight
An illegal Venezuelan migrant has been arrested for allegedly shooting two NYPD cops while on a scooter after they tried pulling him over, officials have said. (Pictured: Castro-Mata being taken away from the scene of the shooting in a stretcher)
‘We’re looking at him for several other robbery patterns in the Queens area where he does have 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 later used at a Queens smoke shop, according to NYPD records.
Castro-Mata entered the US in July last year via Eagle Pass, Texas, Kenny said. He has been staying at a migrant shelter in Ditmars Boulevard, close to the area where the shooting happened.
The teenager was also shot in the ankle during the altercation with officers at 89th Street and 23rd Avenue in Elmhurst, and he underwent surgery on Monday morning at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens.
NYPD said officers chased him for ‘several blocks’ after he discarded the scooter and it was at this point that he shot at them. The unlicensed gun he allegedly used was recovered at the scene.
Police approached Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, as he drove the illegal vehicle the wrong way down a one-way highway in East Elmurst in Queens overnight. (Pictured: Castro-Mata being taken away from the scene of the shooting in a stretcher)
Bernardo Raul Castro-Mata, 19, allegedly shot the officers using an illegal handgun (pictured) in East Elmhurst just before 2am on Monday
Photographs show Castro-Mata looking shell-shocked as medics took him into an ambulance on a stretcher with his arms handcuffed behind his back.
Another image shows three officers carrying him away by his arms and legs as he grimaces. The discarded scooter can also been seen amid carnage at the scene.
The NYPD officers involved in the shootout were filmed leaving Elmhurst Hospital in the daylight several hours later. Police said they were ‘young officers’ who had been working for the department for two and five years respectively.
Onlookers gave them a standing ovation as one was pushed out in a wheelchair before hopping into a police van, while the other walked out and shook hands with colleagues.
New York Mayor Eric Adams condemned the shooting as ‘a senseless act of violence, a total disregard for life’ and praised the officers for acting with ‘professionalism and focus’.
The NYPD officers involved in the shootout were filmed leaving Elmhurst Hospital in the daylight several hours later. One was wheeled out (pictured) as colleagues gave them a standing ovation
Pictured: the discarded scooter at the crime scene after the shootout between Castro-Mata and two NYPD officers
Another image shows three officers carrying Castro-Mata away from the crime scene in East Elmhurts, Queens, by his arms and legs as he grimaces
Kenny said there has been an explosion in New York City robberies by criminals riding motorbikes and motorized scooters since 2023.
‘Between January 1 and June 1 2022, there were zero robbery patterns involving motorized scooters or motorcycles,’ the NYPD detective said.
‘The same time period 2023, 20 robbery patterns.
‘This year so far, over 80 robbery patterns citywide. That’s over 80 patterns alone encompassing hundreds and hundreds of incidents.’
It comes after a bombshell report indicated that 350,000 migrants who entered the U.S. illegally have had their immigration court cases dismissed, allowing them to go free without a verdict on the merits of their entry.
Although Castro-Mata has not previously been arrested in New York City , police believe he is part of a group which has been using scooters to commit violent robberies
A top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) adviser, Kerry Doyle, circulated a memo in 2022 instructing prosecutors to dismiss cases for migrants who are not found to be national security threats, the New York Post first reported.
As a result, that year nearly 103,000 migrants had their cases dismissed – allowing them to walk free into the U.S. without an immigration court judge’s verdict 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, 114,00 cases have been terminated without a verdict, according to the report.
Under Biden’s leadership, a whopping 77 percent of migrants who claim asylum have been allowed to stay in the U.S., according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a non-profit that scours immigration court filings.