U-Turn for Alvin Bragg: DA will not prosecute a wounded NYC garage worker who shot a suspected thief

The Manhattan DA's office run buy Alvin Bragg U-turned on Sunday by saying it would not charge a garage security guard who shot a suspected thief on Saturday.

Garage attendant Moussa Diarra, 57, was himself shot twice by alleged thief Charles Rhodie, 59, early on Saturday before tussling for the same gun and firing back.

Both were charged with attempted murder, assault and firearms charges before the DA's office changed its position, telling the New York Post it will not charge Diarra.

Bragg's office said it would dismiss the case 'pending further investigation'.

'By this morning, people understood exactly what had happened, what a hero and victim my client was. Obviously not the perpetrator,' Diarra's lawyer, Charles Clayman, told The Post. 'All's well that ends well.'

The Manhattan DA's office run buy Alvin Bragg (pictured) U-turned on Sunday by saying it would not charge a garage security guard who shot a suspected thief on Saturday

The incident unfolded at a midtown parking garage on West 31st Street in Manhattan at around 5.30am on Saturday

'We are more than pleased with the result,' Clayman added. 'I think what they wanted to do was sort things out, and both men had been shot.'

At around 5.30am on Saturday the attendant saw a man peering into car windows on the second floor of the West 31st Street garage, reported the Post.

Thinking that the man was stealing, the attendant brought the suspect outside and asked what was inside his bag.

Instead of idling or cooperating, however, the man then pulled out a weapon. Diarra lunged for the gun and it went off, leaving him with a stomach wound and an ear graze before he was able to turn the gun on the alleged thief and shoot him in the chest.

They were both initially charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, but Rhodie was also charged with burglary, according to police. Rhodie's charges remain.

A family friend of Diarra's was irate: 'That's self-defense. The guy tried to rob his business. Why DA want to charge him with attempted murder?' said Mariame Diarra, of no relation to the attendant.

'He's there for security. That's literally his job, to defend his business ... He takes his job seriously ... Attempted murder charge has no place there,' she continued. 'He [the robber] came to find him at his job with his gun, he [the attendant] has to defend himself.'

An individual who works at another garage near the Moynihan Train Station was also shocked and disturbed by the charges: 

'You are kidding. That's an April fool day joke, right?' asked the person. 'How can a hardworking man get arrested for defending himself?'

Both men, including the one acting in self defense, have been charged with attempted murder

Jose Alba, 62, was released from Rikers Island on Thursday evening and returned to his home accompanied by one of his sons after his bail was lowered from $250,000 to $50,000

The DA's change of heart is reminiscent of the case against Manhattan bodega clerk Jose Alba, who was charged with murder following a fatal confrontation on July 1 with an angry customer who accosted him.

Last July, it was six days before Alba was let out of jail on Rikers Island and Alvin Bragg dropped the murder charge following a public pressure campaign to do so.

The Post reported that one police officer who was told about the attempted murder charge said: 'People like Alvin Bragg have made this city unsafe and this worker is a victim defending himself.'

Another officer joked that the thief would have been better off is he were caught stealing because Bragg would likely not have pressed any sort of lasting charge.

'The ironic thing is if he would have just robbed the garage and got caught, Bragg would have let him go, but now he wants to charge both of them,' he said.

Both the attendant and suspected robber live in Manhattan and were transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition following the incident. 

Last week, Manhattan DA Bragg oversaw the indictment of former President Donald Trump, an action that many have called spectacular political overreach from an office that frequently seeks to tamp down charges, not amplify them.

Bragg's complacency when it comes to street criminals is part of the reason New York City's crime rate continues to skyrocket despite repeated promises from City Hall that the Adams administration is working to get the issue under control.  

One officer who found out about the charges against Diarra said: 'People like Alvin Bragg have made this city unsafe and this worker is a victim defending himself'

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has been accused of being soft on crime and failing to prosecute criminals who are driving the crime stats up in New York City

The statistics paint a bleak picture of the city's efforts to address crime that's rocketed since the pandemic

Crime statistics released in January paint a bleak picture of the city's efforts to address crime that's rocketed since the pandemic. 

The data shows that rapes, robberies, and assaults are all up from last year, since hitting highs not seen in decades in both 2020 and 2021.

Rape - which rose in 2020 when streets were empty and unemployment was rife due to unrest caused by Covid-19 - rose by 7 percent, with more than 120 reported cases this year than last.

Robberies, meanwhile, rose 20 percent, despite recent measures taken by Adams, 62, to increase police presence throughout the city.

Assaults and theft throughout the city, meanwhile, show a similarly pronounced rise, with felony assaults up 12 percent - 26,039 incidents this year compared to 22,835 seen last year - and burglaries up an alarming 25 percent.

All other crimes - including grand larceny and motor vehicle theft - showed similar rises except for murders.