NEW YORK —Â A man charged in the deadly shooting of NYPD Det. Jonathan Diller is due in court Tuesday.Â
Diller, 31, was shot and killed during a traffic stop last month in Far Rockaway, Queens.Â
Prosecutors said Lindy Jones was behind the wheel of the car when his passenger, Guy Rivera, pulled out a gun and opened fire.Â
Jones was charged with criminal possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a defaced weapon. Rivera is scheduled to appear in court next month on several charges, including first-degree murder of a police officer.Â
CBS New York learned Jones was out on $75,000 bail for a prior weapons offense at the time of the traffic stop.
Traffic stop turned deadly
CBS2
The NYPD said Diller and his partner were conducting a traffic stop around 5:45 p.m. on March 25 near the intersection of Mott Avenue and Beach 20th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens. As they approached the car, someone inside allegedly pointed a gun at them. Shots were fired, and Diller was struck below his bullet proof vest.Â
The 31-year-old had been with the department for three years and was remembered as a “cop’s cop.” He grew up in Franklin Square before moving to Massapequa Park, where he lived with his wife, Stephanie, and their 1-year-old son, Ryan.Â
“He could always make me laugh, and that was one of the things I love most about him,” Stephanie Diller said during her husband’s funeral. “He was a fierce protector of everyone around him. He spoke his mind and wasn’t afraid.”
The family received an outpouring of support from organizations like Tunnel to Towers, which offered to pay off their mortgage, and Diller was posthumously promoted to the rank of detective.
