A fugitive child molestation suspect from Coronado died Monday in a New York City shootout that left three law enforcement officers wounded, authorities reported.
Charles Richard Thomas Mozdir, 32, allegedly opened fire when two U.S. Marshals and an NYPD detective tried to take him into custody at a Greenwich Village smoke shop about 1 p.m. Eastern time.
The wounded officers were expected to recover, New York Mayor de Blasio told reporters.
Mozdir had been sought since June 2012, when he failed to appear for a pretrial court hearing on charges of sexually assaulting a minor, Coronado police spokeswoman Lea Corbin said.
The one-time wedding photographer’s vehicle was located hidden in a field in Georgia that summer, she said. Based on his prior alleged crimes, investigators believed he might have been victimizing children while living in hiding.
— City News Service
