Hero NYPD Detective Troy Patterson dies after 33 years in a coma while washing his car

Troy Patterson, a heroic cop who spent more than half his life in a vegetative state after being shot in a botched robbery in Brooklyn, has died at a New Jersey rehab facility.

The incident occurred on January 16, 1990, when Patterson, who was off duty at the time, was washing his car at a fire hydrant on Jefferson Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Three local men approached him demanding $20. A scuffle broke out in which one of those involved, a 15-year-old teenager, shot Patterson in the head with a gun.

Patterson, who was only 27 years old at the time, never regained consciousness.

Despite being in a vegetative state, Patterson’s friends and family who visited him believed the injured officer knew they were there.

Relatives cared for Patterson for 33 years since he was shot. They say they thought he knew of their presence

Relatives continued to care for and visit Patterson, despite him being in a vegetative state

Patterson’s close-knit family gathered regularly to celebrate him. He passed away on Sunday

His son, also named Troy, who was five years old at the time of the shooting, recalled in an interview with the Daily news several years ago that his father would become quiet and listen when they came to visit.

“He becomes quiet, he listens,” said his son. “Sometimes he hears my voice, makes a moan, a noise. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but he certainly knows our presence,” he said.

He recalled seeing his father on life support machines after the shooting, “lying in bed, hooked up to all sorts of machines, unresponsive to anyone’s voice.”

“I remember touching his hand. I don’t remember saying anything, but I remember touching his hand,” he said.

At times, Patterson’s family and colleagues believed they could glimpse him still trying to get through.

Patterson’s mother, Katherine Patterson, took care of him every day until she was weakened by multiple sclerosis.

She remained convinced that her son could hear her, even though he couldn’t respond.

Patterson’s family and colleagues believed they could glimpse him still trying to get through

Patterson was off duty washing his car in Bedford-Stuyvesant when three local men approached him and demanded $20. During a scuffle, a 15-year-old shot Patterson in the head and he never regained consciousness – but family members have cared for him ever since

Patterson was shot there 32 years ago, seriously wounding him

NYPD officers honor Detective Troy Patterson every year at the spot where he was shot. Their 2022 ceremony is pictured

She spoke to him every day, even after he was transferred to Hartwyck Rehab Center in New Jersey.

After Katherine died, his aunt Doris Patterson-Brown took over his care, and then his aunt May.

Younger Troy now has a daughter of his own, Tramya.

“I’m trying to fill the steps my dad couldn’t climb,” he said in a 2010 interview. “My dad was the best.”

Fellow NYPD officers and Patterson’s family regularly marked the anniversary of the shooting with candlelight vigils at the scene of the shooting.

Patterson joined the NYPD in 1983 and was working out of the 60th precinct in Coney Island when he was shot.

After the shooting, police arrested three young men, Tracy Clark, 15, Vincent Robbins, 20, and Darren Crawford, 17, who assaulted the officer and demanded the $20 to join a local basketball league.

Clark, then a student at Brooklyn’s Automotive High School, was accused of being the shooter wielding a .38-caliber revolver, but all three were convicted of various charges related to the shooting and sent to prison. The trio has since been released.

Clark, who is believed to have since moved to South Carolina, where records show he has a criminal record for several drug offenses, has served a 15-year sentence for selling drugs.

News of Patterson’s death came as a surprise to his mother, Juanita Clark, who is blind and thought he had already died.

Patterson, who was promoted to detective after the shooting, was remembered by his former partner Darryl Hinkson as a “good cop” and “the best.”