Reported self-defense found one New York City parking attendant potentially facing attempted murder charges when an alleged thief drew a gun Saturday morning.
Former President Donald Trump isn’t the only man faced with the apparent injustice of progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) as the Big Apple remained racked by violent crime. Moussa Diarra, 57, an employee of a West 31st Street parking garage, found himself hospitalized and facing criminal charges, not only for doing his job, but for protecting his own life.
According to sources who spoke with New York Post, Diarra had allegedly witnessed suspect Charles Rhodie, 59, snooping around the vehicles and peering in their windows Saturday around 5:30 a.m. When the garage employee confronted Rhodie at the location across the street from Moynihan Station and down the block from Madison Square Garden, the suspect was said to have pulled a firearm.
For his own safety, Diarra attempted to wrestle the gun away from Rhodie and in the process was shot once in the abdomen while a second bullet grazed his ear. When he successfully took the gun away from the suspect, Diarra proceeded to shoot the man in the chest.
While Rhodie was charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and burglary, Diarra inextricably faced all the same charges save for burglary.
“That’s self-defense,” family friend Mariame Diarra (no relation), told the Post. “The guy tried to rob his business.”
The parking attendant’s situation was remarkably similar to that of former bodega worker Jose Alba who in 2022 had been charged with second-degree murder and placed in Rikers Island until backlash became so severe that prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges. However, the experience had driven the man out of the city and possibly all the back to the Dominican Republic.
“He doesn’t work here anymore,” his manager had said in August 2022. “He’s getting ready to move out of the country…he said he is afraid for his life.”
Bodega worker Jose Alba reportedly flees NYC after stabbing attacker: ‘He’s afraid for his life’ https://t.co/tWmmaslmw4
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 7, 2022
“Why DA want to charge him with attempted murder?” Diarra’s friend went on. “He’s there for security. That’s literally his job, to defend his business…He takes his job seriously…Attempted murder charge has no place there. [The robber] came to find him at his job with his gun, [Diarra] has to defend himself.”
A New Yorker who works nearby the parking garage reacted to the news and thought the Post was playing a prank, “You are kidding. That’s an April fool day joke, right?”
“How can a hardworking man get arrested for defending himself?” they asked.
Civilians weren’t alone in voicing there distaste for the charges as at least one cop who had word of the attempted murder charge against Diarra told the Post, “People like Alvin Bragg have made this city unsafe and this worker is a victim defending himself.”
Both Diarra and Rhodie were reportedly transported to Bellevue Hospital for treatment and were in stable condition.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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