ELMHURST — A man accused of shooting at police officers during a chase in June has been brought back to New York after serving more than a month in a New Jersey prison on a previous drug charge, police said.
Cristian Mosquera, 20, was picked up in Union City, NJ, on June 27, less than a week after police said he fired at them during a chase in Elmhurst, according to the NYPD.
He served more than a month on a previous drug charge and was extradited back to New York on Wednesday.
At his arraignment, he was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other charges, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Mosquera allegedly told police officers in Union City that he "wasn't shooting at police, according to the criminal complaint from the DA's office.
"I know this is about that thing in New York," he told officers, according to the complaint. "I saw it on the news. I saw my picture in the paper."
He claimed that he shot one or two times at someone else and wasn't shooting at NYPD officers, the complaint said.
The Union City Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mosquera shot at a police officer and a uniformed sergeant from the 110th Precinct after they responded to a trespassing call at 93-35 Lamont Ave. in Elmhurst around 1:40 a.m. on June 21, police said.
He was allegedly running with another man while holding his gun and fired at the officers when they told him to drop the firearm, police said.
His shots missed the officers, who returned fire but did not hit him, police said.
