NYPD Commissioner and investigators insist man attempted to kill a cop despite video and cell-phone evidence
The city's top cop and the Brooklyn DA engaged in a rare public disagreement the day after a man charged with firing at police was freed by prosecutors who back his "airtight alibi."
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday that investigators were sticking by their guns that Shane Rhooms is their man.
"The officers still stand by the identification of the individual," Kelly said. "This [decision to free him] is a determination that was made by the district attorney."
But District Attorney Charles Hynes said the evidence is clear Rhooms could not have been the man who opened fire on officers in East Flatbush. The charges against Rhooms, 22, were dropped Tuesday after surveillance footage and cell phone records placed him at a Manhattan concert during the shooting.
"In this case, both the cell phone records and a video with the date and time of a location provided an airtight alibi for the defendant," Hynes said.
Countering Kelly's criticism, Hynes pointed to his record of "vigorously prosecuting and obtaining maximum punishment" for cop killers and people who have assaulted police.
Rhooms faced 45 years to life behind bars if convicted of the Sept. 6 shooting in which a gunman unloaded six shots at three cops in East Flatbush. Cops fired back, but no one was hit and the gunman got away.
Rhooms - who had a prior minor arrest in which he was accused of setting off fireworks - was picked out of mug shots and later out of a lineup by officers.
He spent 18 days in Rikers as prosecutors investigated his defense lawyer's insistence that he didn't do it.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne echoed Kelly's comments, saying investigators remained "confident" Rhooms was their man, even if "the judge and the DA concluded otherwise."
"No information has been developed pointing to anyone else," Browne said.
Rhooms' lawyer Sam Gregory said he could not understand why cops were so adamant.
"I have a great deal of respect for Ray Kelly, but these police officers are obviously wrong," Gregory said.