A Coronado sex assault suspect was killed Monday in a shootout with two U.S. marshals and a New York police officer in Greenwich Village, authorities said.
The suspected shooter, Charles Mozdir, had been wanted by the Coronado Police Department for two years in connection to a child molestation fugitive case. He was fatally shot as officers in New York tried to apprehend him, police said.
The officers were shot shortly after 1 p.m. in Smoking Culture, a smokeshop on West Fourth Street, where officers were acting on tip that the fugitive was working there. The NYPD detective entered the store between Jones and Cornelia streets and confirmed that suspect was alone. When the detective returned with U.S. Marshals to make an arrest, Mozdir immediately opened fire with a 32-caliber revolver.
The NYPD officer was shot twice in the stomach below his bulletproof vest, according to a senior law enforcement official. One marshal was shot in the leg and the other struck by a bullet in the elbow, the official said. The officers are now in stable condition.
Mozdir had been wanted by San Diego authorities since 2012 and a bail bondsmen had been assigned to his case, according to court documents.
He was accused of lewd acts against a child in Coronado and was arrested in June 2012 and booked in jail on $250,000 bail. Upon executing a search warrant at his San Diego residence, they found images of pornography and bestiality on his computer, police said.
A family member posted bail for him the following day, authorities said.
The 32-year-old fugitive from San Diego had failed to appear in court and a $1 million warrant was issued for his arrest. He had made threats to take his own life and threats to the victim’s family, according to a Crime Stoppers bulletin.
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Police now believe Mozdir immediately fled the area. They found his vehicle abandoned six days later, hidden in some bushes in Georgia.
He had a handgun registered to him and had been seen with a second handgun. The bail bondsmen began searching for Mozdir in July 2012. He contacted Mozdir's sister, who lives in San Diego. She said the last time she saw him was at her son's birthday party in Coronado in August 2012.
In December 2012, the bail bondsmen said he had tracked down information leading him to think Mozdir living in Northern California, Georgia or Mexico, according to court documents.
"I believe if given the extra time to investigate these new and promising leads on this case that we will be successful in apprehending the defendant," the bail bondsmen said in court papers.
The case, however, went cold until CNN aired Mozdir's case last week on "The Hunt" and police received numerous new tips, including a creditable one from someone who saw Mozdir 10 months ago.
That tip led authorities to New York. After Mozdir opened fire and officers returned fire, Mozdir was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
His weapon was recovered at the scene. Mozdir had 20 more rounds in his pockets, police said.
