Wild Update in the Case of the State Trooper Who Purposefully Shot Himself, Then Blamed an Imaginary Black Man

(Updated on 10/28/2015 @ 11:45 a.m.)

Tables have turned for a former New York state trooper after he confessed to making up a shooting and blaming an imaginary Black man for the crime. The criminal complaint against Thomas Mascia said he was looking for “attention or sympathy,” and now, he’s headed to prison all because of an unprovoked lie.

It all started in October 2024 when Mascia “initiated a radio transmission for shots fired” while on duty, according to the complaint obtained by ABC News. The then-27-year-old officer had “claimed he was shot by the driver of a black Dodger Charger described as either a “Black or dark-skinned Hispanic male.”

The “crime scene” was temporarily shut down by state police “in an effort to locate the non-existent shooters, causing alarm and inconvenience to the public,” the complaint said. A multi-state manhunt was launched, involving law enforcement from New York, New Jersey and Delaware, said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. It was revealed during a news conference that Mascia staged the Oct. 30 shooting after hours of preparation.

Mascia dropped nine .22-caliber shell casings at the scene and later drove to Hempstead Lake State Park where he shot himself in the leg, according to NBC News. Then, he brought the same gun to his home before driving back to the parkway and reporting he had been shot, according to officials.

“The evidence uncovered and the absence of evidence told us everything we needed to know,” the district attorney said. “Even though Mascia tried to hide his tracks, it didn’t take long for everyone to uncover that his harrowing story was nothing more than an elaborate work of fiction.”

An investigation into the matter was conducted by state police and the district attorney’s office, according to ABC. They soon found no evidence to back up Mascia’s testimony and a subsequent search of Mascia’s home, where he lived with his parents, only got him into deeper trouble.

A second firearm was found in his home, but the problem is his father, Thomas Mascia, is a convicted felon, making it illegal for him to be in possession of a gun, said Donnelly. Both Thomas and his wife, Dorothy, consequently turned themselves into police in January for criminal possession of a firearm charges, according to the district attorney’s office.

Last week, Mascia was sentenced to six months in prison and five years probation as part of a plea deal, CBS News reported. He was originally facing four years behind bars. The court also ordered him to pay $289,511 in restitution for the pointless manhunt.

Jeffrey Lichtman, a lawyer for the Mascia family said, “There are many less severe and less dangerous ways to garner sympathy that don’t include shooting oneself,” he said. “This case is a tragedy that was caused by unseen and untreated mental health issues. And now an entire family is suffering for it as they usually do in such situations.”