Former trooper accused of staging his own shooting on Southern State Parkway appears in court
MINEOLA, Long Island (WABC) -- The former New York State trooper facing charges for faking a shooting and covering it up went before a judge on Wednesday.
Thomas Mascia, 27, is charged with shooting himself and then claiming he was shot on the Southern State Parkway last October.
He was expected to accept a plea deal and plead guilty but court was adjourned for another two weeks.
Mascia allegedly made up the story that he was shot in the leg by a black or Hispanic man driving a Dodge Charger. It led to the road shutting down, prompted a massive search and Mascia got a hero's walkout when he left the hospital days later.
But his story quickly unraveled and it was revealed that Mascia had shot himself at a nearby park to garner sympathy and attention.
On Wednesday, he wore green along with his parents to promote mental health - it was ironically Mascia's answer in court that he was not in good mental health which gave the judge reason to pause.
"The purpose is to genuinely find out where his head is at and I don't think he considered the consequences and frankly I don't think what he said was wrong," said defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman. "You're undergoing mental health treatment because you shot yourself and lied about it and caused the multi-day manhunt for some nonexistent shooter...you know, obviously he's undergoing some severe mental health issues."
His attorney tried to argue that Mascia was fit enough to take the plea said he wasn't entirely surprised it was postponed. Because in addition to telling the judge he wasn't fit - Mascia also signed a superior court document "Trooper Mascia" -- despite no longer being a state trooper.
"He just, I guess blanked out and wrote Trooper Mascia, which is what he's done a thousand times before," Lichtman said.
Those two issues combined caused the judge to put the plea deal off until May 21.
The former trooper's parents were also set to accept a plea deal when authorities found an illegal firearm in their bedroom. Their plea deal was also put off another two weeks.
All along Mascia's defense has argued he has mental health problems and that is what caused him to falsely claim he was shot in the first place.
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