Funeral held for NYPD Det. Troy Patterson, shot during botched robbery in 1990
NEW YORK -- A funeral was held Friday for NYPD Det. Troy Patterson, who spent more than three decades in a vegetative-like state after he was shot in the head during a botched robbery.
Friends say as challenging as the last 33 years have been for the family, there was comfort knowing he was still present. He was able to smile and react to touch, so they always held out hope he would regain consciousness.
"Dad, you touched so many lives. I love you and I honor you, my hero," Patterson's son, Troy Dante Patterson Jr., said.
Every year, Mayor Eric Adams, who was a police officer at the time, attended a prayer service at Patterson's care center.
"We would put a good face on while we were there, but when we left the room, when we left that meeting, for 33 years, all of us would sit in our cars and, privately, uncontrollably cry while we watched such an energetic, joyful, good man live his life in that manner," he said.
Watch the entire funeral service for Det. Patterson
The funeral procession made its way Friday morning to the historic First Church of God in Christ in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Patterson was carried inside by the NYPD Honor Guard.
Hundreds of officers lined Park Place, including members of the 60th Precinct, where Patterson worked. They stood with his family and friends as they prepared to say a final goodbye, 33 years after he was shot.
"After 33 years, we held out hope," said Todd Taylor, of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care. "It was a long fight and struggle for him. He was a warrior."
Patterson was off duty when he was shot in January 1990. He was 27 at the time, washing his car on a street in Brooklyn when he was approached by three young men who demanded $20.
One of the robbers, who was 15 years old, shot Patterson. He suffered a catastrophic injury and lived in a vegetative-like state, though friends say he could smile and react. They always held out hope he would one day return to his passions: his family, music, cars and being a policeman.
"Maybe he could feel like we were there, I will be there, some kind of reaction there," Taylor said. "We always go down to see him, pay our respects, give him words of encouragement."
"Regardless of when the date of occurrence happened, it hurts just as much today as it did then," said Ronald Ross, of Suffolk County.
"We're here to support the family, of course, who have been suffering for 33 years, hoping he makes a full recovery," Conrad Wojciechowsk said.
"It was cops like Troy who turned this city around," said Paul DiGiacomo, with the Detectives Endowment Association.
"I remember going up to the hospital as a baby, 5 years old, seeing my dad laid up in that bed with tubes everywhere, and I didn't understand it," Patterson Jr. said.
"I remember Troy Jr., when he was just a little child, and I would watch him 'cause he would be in the room with his dad and how painful it was," Adams said.
The three robbers all served prison time for charges related to the shooting and have been released. PBA President Pat Lynch says he would like to see the charges upgraded.
"Now this is absolutely a homicide, it should be reinvestigated, and they should pay the price. They went to jail, yes, and then they got out," he said. "Look where we are. We're in front of a church, and we have a police officer in a casket."
The Brooklyn district attorney is re-examining the files.
The NYPD says they'll always stand with the family.
Patterson also leaves behind two granddaughters and a large family who regularly visited and cared for him. They say it was a blessing he was able to hold on this long.
