Jan. 06--REPORTING FROM NEW YORK -- Two men, one who had posted online anti-police statements, have been arrested in connection with the shooting Monday of two plainclothes police officers responding to a grocery store robbery in the Bronx, New York police said Tuesday.
The shooting was the latest example of violence against police in a city still reeling from the ambush of two officers killed in Brooklyn on Dec. 20. That incident set off a storm of criticism by police, who argued that Mayor Bill de Blasio's comments about race and policing had created an atmosphere that led to the attack.
Police said the two men, Jason Polanco, 24, and Joshua Kemp, 28, had a history of arrests and were suspects in other robberies. Authorities would not say which suspect had an Instagram account that they say contained posts criticizing police.
Polanco faces charges including five counts of attempted murder, one for each of the officers who responded to the initial robbery call, Robert K. Boyce, New York Police Department chief of detectives, told reporters Tuesday.
Kemp faces robbery charges, Boyce said.
About 10:30 p.m. Monday, five officers responded to East 184th Street in the Tremont section of the Bronx, Boyce said. Two officers were coming off their shift when they and three others went to investigate the robbery of a grocery store and deli.
New York Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said the officers, part of an anti-crime unit, spotted two suspects, one outside a Chinese restaurant and another inside it.
Two officers went to question Kemp, who was on the sidewalk, Boyce said. Polanco then opened fire, Boyce said, hitting Kemp, and that bullet subsequently struck one of the officers.
The suspects fled, Boyce said, and Polanco fired two more shots, hitting the officers.
Officers Andrew Dossi, 30, and Aliro Pellerano, 38, were wounded by what police said was a .44-caliber revolver. Both were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, where they were in stable condition, Bratton said. Pellerano is expected to be released Wednesday.
The suspects carjacked a white Camaro and later abandoned it near East 188th Street and Park Avenue, Boyce said. Investigators also recovered a gun there.
The gun was stolen and was traced to Colorado in the 1980s. Officials said they were continuing to investigate how it got to New York.
Polanco, of the Bronx, was taken into custody Tuesday morning. A friend was questioned but was not believed to have been involved in the robbery, Boyce said.
Kemp, suffering a bullet wound in an arm, was taken by a friend to Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, where he was treated and turned over to police. Under questioning, he confessed and implicated Polanco, Boyce said.
De Blasio was quick to praise the wounded officers.
"They went above and beyond the call to protect their fellow New Yorkers," he said. "Thank God the officers are doing well and will recover."
The shooting occurred while the city remained tense from the ambush slaying of two officers. Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were gunned down in their patrol car by a man who vowed online to kill "pigs." The man opened fire, ran into a subway and shot himself to death.
Ramos was buried Dec. 27 and Liu laid to rest Sunday. At both funerals, some officers turned their backs on the mayor in protest.
michael.muskal@latimes.com
Twitter: @latimesmuskal
Haller reported from New York and Muskal from Los Angeles.
UPDATE
4:44 p.m.: The story was updated throughout with new information.
11:12 a.m.: This post was updated with police saying three are being questioned.
10:18 a.m.: This post was updated with police saying they have two men in custody.
8:49 a.m.: This post was updated with comments from the scene of the shooting.
8:15 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with additional details of Monday's shooting.
This story was originally published at 5:18 a.m.
