Ex-NYS Trooper Thomas Mascia hospitalized recently after suicide attempt, a source and officials say

The ex-state trooper from Long Island who is awaiting sentencing on charges that he falsely said he was shot by a masked assailant on the Southern State Parkway, but had really shot himself in an alleged bid for attention and sympathy, was hospitalized recently after an alleged suicide attempt, police and a source said Wednesday.

Former Trooper Thomas Mascia Jr., of West Hempstead, pleaded guilty in May to multiple charges in connection with his 2024 line-of-duty shooting that prompted a multistate search for a shooter whom Mascia identified as a "dark-skinned" man — a shooter that didn’t exist.

"We responded to that home for a medical situation," Nassau Det. Tracey Cabey said in an email when Newsday inquired about Mascia’s alleged suicide attempt. Cabey declined to provide further details.

A law enforcement source said Mascia was hospitalized after attempting suicide in late July.

Mascia’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Lichtman has previously said his client has been suffering from "unseen and untreated mental health issues" for years.

Mascia, 27, a trooper since 2019, pleaded guilty in May to charges of filing a false report, official misconduct and tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors said he plotted his own shooting in an apparent attempt to get the attention of an ex-girlfriend and researched online where to shoot himself in the leg, prosecutors have said.

Mascia is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 20 as part of a plea deal that will see him receive 6 months in jail, 5 years of probation and mental health treatment.

As part of the plea deal, Mascia also agreed to pay the state police $289,511.32 for the overtime paid to his fellow troopers who searched for the nonexistent assailant before the search was called off.

Spokespeople for the state police and Nassau District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting Mascia, declined to comment Wednesday on his alleged suicide attempt.

In pleading guilty, Mascia admitted he shot himself in Hempstead Lake Park on Oct. 30 and then dumped the gun, a .22 caliber rifle, at his West Hempstead home. Mascia then went to the Southern State, where he had sprinkled shell casings, and dramatically called over his police radio that he had been shot at about 11:42 p.m.

Mascia, who was shot in his right leg, said he stopped to assist what he thought was a stranded motorist when he was shot by the assailant, who he said was driving a late model Dodge Charger with temporary New Jersey tags that was pulled over on the side of the parkway. He described the shooter as a "dark-skinned" male wearing a balaclava mask.

Mascia applied a tourniquet to his injured leg and was taken to the hospital. He was released to a hero’s welcome with troopers and police officers lined up outside and applauding as he was pushed in a wheelchair to a waiting vehicle.

But his fraudulent story began to unravel soon after.

State Police Superintendent Steven James, speaking after Mascia's January arrest, said investigators couldn't find any tire marks at the alleged shooting scene or any video of the Dodge Charger that Mascia had described.

Days after the shooting, he was suspended from the force and state police announced they had stopped searching for the vehicle that Mascia had described as belonging to the shooter.

"The shooter that we were looking for only existed in Mr. Mascia’s head, in his imagination," Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said after Mascia’s arrest.

Mascia's parents were both charged with gun possession after police found a gun at the foot of their bed when they executed a search warrant at the home where the three live, as part of the investigation into the shooting.

Mascia's father, Thomas A. Mascia, a convicted felon and former NYPD officer who was terminated in 1993 for cocaine distribution, pleaded guilty in May to one count of criminal possession of a firearm. 

He is expected to be sentenced to 5 years of probation as part of his plea deal.

The ex-trooper's mother, Dorothy Mascia, also pleaded guilty, to fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. She is expected to receive a conditional discharge.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.