A man who shot a police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to first-degree attempted murder, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.
The man, Roland Roberts, of the Bronx, faces 18 years to life in prison for shooting Capt. Kenneth Girven on Aug. 27, 2003, said the spokeswoman, Sherry Hunter. Mr. Roberts pleaded guilty just as his trial was about to begin, Ms. Hunter said.
He told Justice Carol Berkman of State Supreme Court that he had known that Captain Girven was a police officer and that the captain had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to Ms. Hunter.
Captain Girven was patrolling Washington Heights when he confronted Mr. Roberts and another man. The captain, in plain clothes, identified himself as an officer and showed his badge, the police said. Mr. Roberts shot him once in the side. The officer was seriously injured but later recovered.
The police said they believed the men had been planning to rob a social club near West 154th Street.