US EditionEx-NY Trooper Pleads Guilty to Staging Shooting and Faking Crime Scene
- Former New York state trooper Thomas Mascia pleaded guilty on May 21, 2025, to shooting himself and staging a false crime on a Long Island highway.
- Mascia falsely claimed an unknown dark-skinned gunman shot him near his West Hempstead home on October 30, prompting a three-day, regionwide search.
- Prosecutors said Mascia shot himself in a nearby park, distributed shell casings on the highway, and called for backup to fabricate the incident.
- Mascia accepted a sentence that includes six months in jail, a probation period of five years, ongoing mental health care, and a payment of $289,000 to cover officers’ overtime expenses incurred during the search.
- The case highlighted Mascia's untreated mental health issues and raised concerns about risks from fabricated police incidents and potential harm to innocent individuals.
65 Articles
65 Articles
Thomas Mascia, disgraced New York State trooper who intentionally shot himself and lied about it, lands sweet plea deal
Disgraced New York State trooper Thomas Mascia secured a sweet plea deal of six months behind bars after he admitted to deliberately shooting himself in the leg during a Long Island traffic stop and then lying about it.
Former New York State Trooper Pleads Guilty to Staging Own Shooting, Triggering Massive Manhunt
MINEOLA, N.Y. — Former New York State Trooper Thomas Mascia, 27, pleaded guilty on May 21, 2025, to charges stemming from a fabricated shooting incident that led to a large-scale manhunt and significant public alarm. The incident occurred on October 30, 2024, when Mascia claimed he was shot in the leg by an unknown assailant during a traffic stop on the Southern State Parkway in West Hempstead, Long Island. The Fabricated Incident Mascia’s accou…
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