A 19-year-old migrant staying at a shelter in Queens has been charged with multiple counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault and other crimes in a shooting that wounded two NYPD cops earlier this week, investigators said Wednesday.
Bernardo Castro Mata, who is from Venezuela, was shot in the ankle when police returned fire. He was arraigned in the hospital Wednesday; it wasn't clear if he entered a plea. Law enforcement sources say Castro Mata arrived in the U.S. in 2023 and had been staying at the shelter on Ditmars Boulevard.
The officers he is accused of shooting -- one in the bulletproof vest, one in the leg -- were treated and released from a hospital. The two were investigating a robbery pattern involving mopeds and scooters in which Castro Mata was suspected when they spotted a man on a moped going the wrong way in East Elmhurst around 1:30 a.m. Monday.
The man, later identified as Castro Mata, got off the moped and took off on foot. The two 26-year-old NYPD officers gave chase -- and allege Castro Mata fired at them during the pursuit. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
"According to the criminal complaint, this defendant fired his gun point-blank into the chest of a New York City police officer, and just seconds later shot another officer in the leg," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement Wednesday. "NYPD officers put their lives at risk every day to protect New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. Amongst other charges, including criminal possession of the weapon and assault, we are charging the defendant with the attempted murder of both police officers."
Castro Mata was remanded after his hearing Wednesday. He faces up to 40 years to life in prison for each attempted murder of a police officer count if convicted. He is being represented by a public defender.
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Investigators said the 19-year-old has no prior arrests in New York City but is a suspect in two violent robberies in Queens on May 21. In both cases, suspects on mopeds used force to rob victims of various items, including purses, phones and debit cards, according to three senior law enforcement officials.
"The patterns that we’re looking at currently in Queens that he’s involved with — phone snatching, in one case a woman attacked [and] her debit card stolen, and eventually it was used at a smoke shop," NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny said.
Police say they're investigating more than 80 robbery patterns involving scooters and mopeds citywide — four times the number of similar cases they had in the same time frame last year. In 2022, there were no such crime patterns.
While overall crime is down, robberies are on the rise, with moped robberies being a significant factor. A police official said the department has seized more than 13,000 mopeds thus far in 2024, and nearly 55,000 dating back to 2022.
Mayor Eric Adams visited the officers in the hospital Monday and later decried the shooting as "senseless."
