QUEENS — A man who had evaded authorities for weeks after allegedly shooting a cop in Jamaica last month surrendered Sunday.
Accompanied by his lawyer, John Thomas, 24, turned himself in to NYPD detectives about 7 p.m. at a Jamaica parking lot on Liberty Avenue and Merrick Boulevard, police said.
He was charged Monday with second-degree attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree assault, police said.
Cops had been looking for Thomas since the Aug. 8 shooting of NYPD Sgt. Craig Bier, an officer in the NYPD’s Queens gang squad.
Bier, a 15-year NYPD veteran who was patrolling Jamaica in plainclothes with his partner, was shot in each leg while in pursuit of a suspicious man on a bicycle who fled when the officers tried to make a stop.
Thomas, who was riding along 107th Avenue, had fled through an alley alongside Union Hall Street, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at the time.
When Thomas encountered Bier around 106-20 Union Hall St., he fired four shots from his .9-mm Ruger at the officer, hitting him twice in the legs. Bier had returned fire with six shots, according to NYPD.
Bier, 44, was taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition. Surgeons removed a bullet from one of his legs and the officer was released two days after the incident.