Suspect in fatal N.Y. robbery arrested

NEW YORK — Police arrested a man Friday suspected of being the lookout during a robbery that led to the friendly fire death of a New York City police detective, an official briefed on the investigation said.

The man was taken into custody in Queens hours after New York Police Department Commissioner James O’Neill revealed on a radio show that police were looking for a second suspect in Tuesday night’s holdup, the official said.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspect’s name wasn’t immediately available Friday night.

Detective Brian Simonsen was hit once in the chest by crossfire as he and six other officers fired 42 shots at robbery suspect Christopher Ransom, who police say charged at them from inside a T-Mobile store pointing a fake handgun. Simonsen, 42, will be buried this week.

Ransom, who was wounded, was arraigned Friday by video from his hospital bed on murder, manslaughter and other charges.

A judge ordered him held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Tuesday. Ransom faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Simonsen, Sgt. Matthew Gorman and six uniformed officers swarmed to the T-Mobile store about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday after a 911 caller standing outside reported seeing a man take two employees to a back room at gunpoint, police said.

According to a criminal complaint, Ransom ordered the employees to remove iPhones and money from the cash registers and back room safes.

Simonsen and Gorman, who were both in plainclothes and not wearing bullet-resistant vests, were working on another case nearby when the call came and arrived about the same time as patrol officers, police said.