A knife-wielding mugger picked the wrong target yesterday on a busy street in downtown Brooklyn – an off-duty cop who shot him in the chest, police said.
Cops said the unidentified thief walked up to Varlos Brathwaite, 28, at around 11:30 a.m. on Fulton Street and demanded money.
Brathwaite, a three-year veteran who works at Brooklyn’s 88th Precinct, identified himself as a cop.
But investigators said the robber then put a knife to the officer’s throat. Brathwaite drew his gun and fired – while frightened passersby ducked for cover.
The thief was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in critical condition.