Bronx sanitation worker charged with attempted murder held on $200K bail

The New York City sanitation worker charged with attempted murder for wounding a teenager that police said was trying to steal his car was ordered held on $200,000 bail on Tuesday.

Richie Torres, 44, a 19-year veteran of the Department of Sanitation, will remain behind bars after he was arrested Monday behind the wheel of a city garbage truck for winging an alleged 16-year-old car thief and a 28-year-old driving by at the wrong time, according to police.

It took cops about three weeks to piece the case together. But Bronx Assistant District Attorney Rashad Mujumder said that a video of the shooting, which took place the night of April 4 at Trafalgar Place and E. 176th St. in West Farms, and Torres’ own admission put him at the scene of the crime.

“The attempted murder is captured on video and the defendant identified himself in two photographs,” the prosecutor said.

Torres’ lawyer Hannah Rosenthal argued that her client, who has no criminal record and deep roots in the community, should be released on his own recognizance.

“These are only allegations,” she said of the attempted murder and gun charges. “There are big gaps in this case. There is no civil identification and there’s no admission of guilt by my client.”

The would-be car thief was struck in the shoulder and the bystander was blasted in the elbow, police said, adding that neither victim was cooperative.

Both victims have had numerous run-ins with police. The teen was shot multiple times last week and still has bullets lodged in his stomach and leg, his father told the Daily News. The victim who was driving by when he was struck by a bullet has multiple arrests for assault and criminal contempt, police sources said.

The Department of Sanitation has suspended Torres without pay.