Cop-slay bail nixed
DA: Gum jam probably saved 2nd officer's life
Officials say the ex-con who allegedly boasted “I shoot people” after a passenger in his car killed NYPD cop Jonathan Diller was arraigned Tuesday — as new details were revealed in the case.
Lindy Jones, 41, was ordered held without bail on charges of criminal possession of a weapon in Queens Criminal Court related to the March 25 shootout where Diller was killed with a single gunshot to the stomach, with prosecutors now saying the murder weapon jammed during a struggle for it between the alleged shooter and another officer.
Jones was sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked Kia Soul when cops approached and passenger Guy Rivera opened fire on the officers, officials said.
The charges against Jones, whose street name is “Killa,” are related to a 9mm pistol found in the Kia, not the gun used to kill Diller, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Jones faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted, and an additional 15 years on a separate open weapons charge from April 2023, prosecutors said. The terms would be served consecutively.
He has admitted to cops: “My name is Lindy Jones Jr. and I shoot people,” prosecutors have previously alleged.
Long rap sheet
Jones has at least 14 arrests on his rap sheet, including on charges of robbery, assault and attempted murder in a 2001 case in which he was accused of shooting a man three times.
Rivera, 34, is also a seasoned criminal with 21 busts under his belt and five years in state prison on a drug conviction before he was released in 2021 and completed his parole in 2022.
Diller, a married father of a 1-year-old boy, was questioning Jones and Rivera after spotting the Kia parked at a bus stop on Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway when he was shot below his bulletproof vest, according to police. The distance between Rivera and Diller was no more than 2 feet, a source said.
After shooting Diller, Rivera then aimed his gun at Sgt. Sasha Rosen, who was with the mortally injured officer, prosecutors say. Rosen pushed the .380-caliber gun away while Rivera’s finger remained on the trigger and he attempted to point it at the sergeant, the DA’s Office said. The gun jammed after firing the round that struck Diller, prosecutors said.
Jones was ordered by Judge Michael B. Aloise to return to court June 12.
Rivera — who has been indicted on charges of murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the first and second degrees, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree — could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted, prosecutors said.
He is due back in court May 7. Diller was laid to rest after funeral services in Massapequa, LI, following a two-day wake that drew hundreds of uniformed officers and a visit from presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“There is no higher priority for my office than taking illegal guns off our streets to prevent the devastation they cause, whether it is the shooting of a child playing in a school yard or an NYPD officer doing his job,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to achieve that goal and to seek justice for Detective Diller.”