Bragg’s Office Backs Off Initial Attempted Murder Charge Of NYC Garage Worker In Gun Battle With Alleged Thief

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has dropped an attempted murder charge on Moussa Diarra, a garage security worker who shot an alleged thief after the suspect fired two bullets at him. The incident occurred on Saturday morning when Diarra approached a man peering into cars on the second floor of a garage and requested to look inside his bag on suspicion of theft. The suspect, identified as Charles Rhodie, pulled out a gun and shot Diarra twice, as the two men wrestled for control of the firearm. Diarra then gained possession of the weapon and shot Rhodie in the chest. Both men were transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition and were placed in custody pending further investigation.

Initially, Bragg’s office had also hit Diarra with charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon. However, following an uproar of news reports about the altercation, prosecutors backed off on the attempted murder charge pending further investigation, while still pursuing charges against Rhodie.

Critics of Bragg have slammed the district attorney for creating an unsafe city where criminals feel emboldened and law-abiding citizens are weakened. Within a month of taking office, Bragg faced backlash from police officers, small business owners, and public officials over a memo that instructed prosecutors to avoid seeking jail time for certain crimes including robbery, assault, and gun possession. His office later updated the memo, stating that it was up to the prosecutors to determine how best to handle individual cases.

Crime statistics reported by The Daily Mail showed rapes, robberies, and assaults are all up, after hitting high numbers the city has not experienced in decades. The uptick of crime has further fueled criticism of Bragg’s policies.

Victim Rights NY founder Jennifer Harrison has been one of Bragg’s more vocal critics, calling for his removal from office since he entered, accusing the district attorney of implementing soft-on-crime policies, which the group said has made the city “progressively worse.”