Retired NYC cop’s alleged shooter arrested 20 years later
A retired police officer that was mistakenly reported as having died.
A cop who was said to have died after a gun battle in the Bronx back in 1999, is alive and on Monday and the alleged shooter in the cold case was finally arrested, The NY Daily News reports.
The confusion seems to have stemmed from NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Niell misreading of the arrest warrant and sending out a tweet that said the suspect was charged with murder. He also thanked JSO for the capture of Lester Pearson, the man accused of shooting of off-duty NYPD officer, Vincent Ling, in 1999, reports ABC News.
Ling, the retired officer, is alive and among the living and Pearson, 43, is under arrest for attempted murder. Pearson was taken into custody at his Jacksonville, Fla. Home on Friday and had been living on the run under the name Michael Davis.
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Back in the day, Ling worked as an undercover cop so his name wasn’t made available. There were news stories about the incident which reported that the cop had spent a month in the hospital and ended up partially paralyzed after a bullet was left stuck in his spine as a result of the gun battle.
But Ling has stayed on the low.
The 47-year-old Ling hasn’t made himself available for comment though.
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Pearson, on the other hand, has been hiding out and living with his girlfriend and several children in Florida. He also had a following because he performed as a rapper named Monsta Kodi. He has about 100,000 Instagram fans.
Ling and Pearson ended up battling because the two had issues over Pearson who once dated Ling’s sister.
That beef erupted in gunfire with Ling left with a bullet lodged in his spine and Pearson’s girlfriend with a bullet in her thigh. Pearson was subsequently arrested but he skipped bail and went on the lam.
Pearson also had several other drug arrests under his belt and he was accused of assault against a Louisiana police officer.
