NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Four alleged muggers with a fake gun who tried to rob an off-duty New York police detective holding a real weapon ended up with very real injuries, police say.
The detective was walking his dog on the boardwalk near Beach 27th Street in Far Rockaway about 6:20 p.m. Saturday when the alleged assailants approached him and tried to rob him with a fake but realistic-looking gun -- even after the detective identified himself, the New York Post reported.
"There was a struggle and he let go some rounds," said a police source.
One of the alleged robbers was hit in the foot and another in the chin and arm, the newspaper said.
All four ran away, but police captured three of them in the area and transported one wounded man to Jamaica Hospital where he was reported in stable condition. The fourth alleged assailant walked himself into the same hospital Saturday evening volunteering he had been shot near the boardwalk on Beach 27th Street.
"These guys are imbeciles to rob a cop," Beach 27th Street resident Jalil Winters, 22, said.
