Photo: Elijah Foster-Bey was 17 when he fired at and badly wounded police Officer Richard Ramirez. NYC - A Brooklyn judge revoked the bail of an alleged cop shooter Friday after prosecutors brought up previously sealed juvenile records showing he repeatedly violated family court orders.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Mondo said the new revelations "present a very different picture" of Elijah Foster-Bey before announcing her decision to revoke his $100,000 bail to the cheers of a courtroom full of uniformed cops.
Foster-Bey was 17 when he fired at and badly wounded police Officer Richard Ramirez in the hallway of an East New York tenement after plain-clothed cops tried to stop him for riding his bike on the wrong side of the street, prosecutors said.
He's facing an attempted murder rap that carries up to 25 years in prison for the October shooting.
"There's overwhelming evidence against the defendant," said Lewis Lieberman, the prosecutor in charge of crimes against police officers.
With some 50 uniformed cops and police union officials in court, Lieberman presented the documents that had been unsealed by a judge's order.
They showed that Elijah-Bey was suspended from his high school, placed in foster care and later sent to an institution for juvenile delinquents, where he was accused of threatening others.
The prosecutor said these facts were unknown at arraignment, adding that the defendant committed "repeated violations" of family court orders.
Defense lawyer Danielle Muscatello received the prosecutor's papers just minutes before the hearing after being told the day before the case will be put over for the next court date.
She noted that cops shot her client four times in his buttocks, argued there are no changes in circumstances and urged the judge to ignore "the majority of the 75th Precinct" in attendance.
"It's completely inappropriate," she said of the prosecution's tactics. "Judge [Gustin] Reichbach made his determination, however unpopular it may have been," referring to the judge who released Foster-Bey on bail in December.
Reichbach is on leave, mourning the recent death of his daughter. So the case was before Mondo.
The new revelations "present a very different picture," she said before remanding Foster-Bey.
Foster-Bey, who made all three appearances while out on bail, was teary-eyed when taken into lockup.
The head of the Patrolman's Benevolent Association praised the decision.
"The reality is, if this mope will shoot at a New York police officer in a hallway, he would shoot any citizen," said Patrick Lynch. "This is a good day."