The suspect accused of shooting two NYPD sergeants last month after sticking up a Lower East Side mah-jongg parlor told detectives he had no recollection of what happened — but that his first thought was, “F–k, my life is over,” prosecutors alleged in court filings accompanying his indictment on Tuesday.
At his arraignment in state Supreme Court in Manhattan attended by several of his relatives and members of the NYPD sergeants union, Joshua Dorsett, 22, pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault upon a police officer, and related charges handed up last week by a grand jury.
“Not guilty,” Dorsett said while the charges were still being read.
Prosecutors allege Dorsett held 20 people up at gunpoint inside the parlor on Canal St. near Eldridge St. on Aug. 1 before making off with a wad of stolen cash, several purses, and a bookbag, then headed north toward Delancey St. to a clothing store to change into a new outfit, when police spotted him.
The Two Bridges man fled and refused to drop his .45 caliber pistol when Sgt. Carl Johnson, 43, of the 5th Precinct, and Sgt. Christopher Leap, 34, of the 7th Precinct caught up with him and threw him against a car, Assistant District Attorney Mireille Dee alleged in court Tuesday. He then allegedly struck both officers after firing the weapon from inside his pocket.
The bullet went through Sgt. Johnson’s groin area, leaving “significant” fragments in his leg, before exiting and striking Sgt. Leap, 34, in his upper thigh, the prosecutor said.
Dee said that the wild sequence of events that preceded the shooting was mostly captured on high-quality CCTV.
In a series of partly indecipherable statements to detectives at the 5th precinct after the incident, Dorsett allegedly said he “blacked out.”
“When that happened, I thought, ‘F–k, my life is over.’ I am Black. I had both hands behind my back. He went in my pocket … and the gun went bam,” cops quoted him.
“I don’t want to lie to you. I don’t remember how they were in my pockets, who was in my pockets. After I was being slammed, my mind went blank.”
Detectives also quoted him as saying, “Guys getting shot … all day. One of y’all get shot, and it’s a f–king problem. F–k.”
At Tuesday’s proceeding, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Laura Ward continued to hold Dorsett without bail, and his public defender reserved making an argument for his pretrial release.
Dorsett’s neighbors at the Alfred E Smith Houses described him to the Daily News last month as “a very lost kid” known for acts of kindness when “in the right state of mind.” Prosecutors said he’d racked up a considerable rap sheet since he was a teen, including stealing the shoes off someone’s feet at gunpoint and selling crack cocaine to an undercover narcotics officer six times. He met with his probation officer in that case hours before the shooting.
“If you’re guilty of these charges, it’s really a shame,” Judge Ward said Tuesday.
Dorsett’s relatives declined to comment after the hearing. Sergeants’ Benevolent Association president Vincent Vallelong said he wanted to “applaud” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s handling of the case and that the sergeants were recovering.
“It was traumatic,” Vallelong said. “Everybody thinks we’re, you know, these big tough guys, but to be honest, they’re two pretty big boys, and it’s a traumatic incident.”
