The gangbanger who allegedly shot and wounded two NYPD sergeants after robbing women at a Lower East Side mahjong parlor was out on probation in a crack cocaine case, according to law-enforcement sources and court records.
Video exclusively obtained by The Post shows a masked, hooded robber – Joshua Dorsett, 22, police said – pointing a gun as he swiped purses from shocked patrons in the 91 Canal St. parlor Thursday afternoon before running off.
Minutes later, two veteran cops spotted Dorsett, who matched the robber’s description, and tried to restrain him on Eldridge Street near Delancey Street, police said.
But Dorsett, a member of the notorious Up the Hill gang, struggled and fired off one shot that hit both cops, officials said.
Both cops were taken to Bellevue Hospital. Leap, an NYPD veteran of 11 years, was released from the hospital to cheers from a crowd of uniformed officers around 9 p.m. Thursday.
Johnson, who has 16 years on the force, remained hospitalized Friday and has a bullet fragment lodged in his thigh, according to a criminal complaint against Dorsett.
A handcuffed Dorsett, clad in a t-shirt and pajama pants both patterned with an apple-based variation on the classic “I Love NY” logo, kept his head down as cops carted him from Chinatown’s 5th Precinct to an unmarked police car Friday afternoon.
He was held without bail Friday night at his arraignment on charges of attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and assault.
The gang-linked Dorsett has a long history of run-ins with the law. He has at least three prior arrests, including for criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to police.
Police said he sold crack cocaine to an undercover cop six different times on the Lower East Side between March 8 and June 6 of 2022, according to a criminal complaint.
Dorsett pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree in the crack case and received three years of probation during his sentencing in May.
He was out on probation — and had even visited his probation officer Thursday morning — when police said he pulled a stickup in the mahjong parlor, according to cops and court records.
The Up the Hill crew is behind generations of tit-for-tat violence with its Down the Hill rivals for territory along opposite sides of Houston Street, but police said the motive here was robbery, not related to Dorsett’s alleged involvement with the gang.
The victims told cops that the robber had run off on Delancey Street, where the pair of sergeants spotted a person matching the description the women gave about seven minutes later, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a press conference Thursday night.
They attempted to restrain him but the suspect, later ID’ed as Dorsett, resisted, leading the three of them to struggle against a vehicle, Kenny said.
That’s when Dorsett allegedly pulled a gun from his waistband and squeezed off one shot.
Other responding officers were able to restrain Dorsett and take him into custody. Police recovered a .45 Taurus semi-automatic pistol at the scene, Kenny said.
Mayor Eric Adams commended both cops during the Thursday evening press briefing.
“To put your life at risk for others, to answer the calls of service and to respond and walk, run towards danger as people move away from it,” Adams said. “The NYPD moved quickly in response to this armed robbery and focused their resources to swiftly apprehend the perpetrator.”
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said he was relieved both sergeants will recover.
“And as the mayor said, today is yet another reminder of the dangers we’ll see police officers face every day as they go out there to keep our city safe,” Caban told reporters.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in a statement the incident involved “another repeat offender who thought he could attack police officers and escape justice” and called on the court system to be tougher in halting crime.
“We have been in courtroom after courtroom across this city, demanding real consequences for violence against police officers,” he said.
“Our justice system needs to start delivering those consequences – not just when the spotlight is on, but every single time.”
— Additional reporting by Zoe Hussain