NYPD identifies suspect who exchanged gunfire with officers during Crotona Park robbery

Authorities have identified the suspect who they say started a shootout with police after an armed robbery at a store in Crotona Park last Wednesday.

News 12 Staff

May 24, 2021, 9:30 AM

Updated 1,238 days ago

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Authorities have identified the suspect who they say started a shootout with police after an armed robbery at a store in Crotona Park last Wednesday.
Officials say 39-year-old Calvin Peterkin, who they describe as being 5’11’’ and 200 pounds, exchanged gunfire with officers while they responded to an armed robbery inside a Boost mobile store near the corner of East 174th Street and Bryant Avenue just before 6:30 p.m.
Detectives say Peterkin also has long criminal record that goes back more than a decade. It includes charges of robbery with a firearm, assault, selling drugs and forgery.
Peterkin's last known address was in East Flatbush in Brooklyn.
Police say that Peterkin took out a gun on the officers, and they told him to drop it. They say that it seemed that he looked like he was going to at first, but at the last second, he shot at them instead, causing two officers to return fire.
The officers chased after Peterkin for a couple blocks up East 174th Street toward Hoe Avenue, but he got away.
While neither of the officers were hit by the shots, both had to go to the hospital for ringing in their ears.
On Monday, police said they retrieved a semiautomatic handgun from under a parked car near the crime scene.
The NYPD is now asking for the public's help to find Peterkin. They ask anyone with any information to call the Crime Stoppers hotline, 1-800-577-TIPS.