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Suspects Polanco, Kemp Indicted In Bronx Shooting That Injured 2 NYPD Officers

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A grand jury on Monday handed down an indictment against alleged gunman Jason Polanco, and alleged accomplice Joshua Kemp, in a shooting that wounded two NYPD officers in the Bronx last week.

Jason Polanco, 24, and Joshua Kemp, 28, were both indicted on charges of robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of stolen property. Polanco was also charged with attempted murder, criminal possession and use of a firearm, grand larceny, while Kemp was also charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

Both men were arrested on Tuesday of last week after an intense manhunt, in connection with the shooting the night before that wounded officers Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellerano.

The shooting happened as the two officers, along with three others, were investigating a robbery at a nearby deli in the Fordham section of the Bronx.

Bail was set at $200,000 for Kemp at a hearing Wednesday night, while bail was denied for Polanco.

The chain of events started around 10:10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 5, when Kemp and Polanco entered the Yemen Deli at 180th Street and Webster Avenue and announced a robbery, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

After the robbery, the suspects walked west on 180th Street and north on Tiebout Avenue, Boyce said.

Meanwhile, five members of the 46th Precinct Anti-Crime Unit were preparing to end their day and go off duty when they heard a call of a robbery from a patrol sergeant.

The officers drove down 180th Street past the robbery scene and turned on Tiebout Avenue where they spotted Kemp outside a Chinese restaurant and Polanco inside it, police said.

When the officers got out of their car and approached Kemp, Polanco shot one round through the window of the restaurant, striking Kemp and one officer, police said.

"He sees the officers and fires one round, which strikes Kemp through the right bicep," Boyce said. "That goes through him and strikes the officer."

He went outside and fired two more shots and wounded the second officer, police said. One officer returned three shots but missed.

Polanco then ran away and carjacked a white Camaro that he crashed a few blocks away, police said. He jumped out, ditched his gun and fled on foot, they said.

With his bullet wound, Kemp had a third man drive him to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, police said. But when police questioned him, they say his account was inconsistent.

"A bogus story that quickly fell apart when detectives started asking about it," Boyce said.

Investigators said Polanco has a history of arrests, while Kemp has a record of violent felonies. Boyce said police are also looking into whether the suspects were involved in a series of similar grocery store robberies in northern Manhattan and the Bronx, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.

Meanwhile, Officer Pellerano, who was shot in the arm and torso, was released from St. Barnabas Hospital Bronx this past Wednesday afternoon. Dossi remained hospitalized as of Monday, and was transferred from St. Barnabas to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to published reports.

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