NYPD: Trevor Bickford, 19, of Maine, charged with attempted murder in attack on police near Times Square
The NYPD released this photo of the large knife allegedly used by the attacker shot by officers near Times Square. Credit: TNS/NYPD/DCPI
A Maine man arrested for a machete attack on police officers near Times Square on New Year's Eve has been charged with attempted murder and attempted assault charges stemming from the incident, New York City police officials said Monday.
Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, was hit with the charges from an attack on three officers. One of the officers was a rookie who had just graduated from the police academy last Friday and was on a Times Square security detail Saturday night when Bickford, who a police source described as a “self-radicalized” adherent to Islam, allegedly struck him with a short machete. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer in the second degree and two counts of assault on a police officer in the second degree.
All the officers were released from hospital Sunday. Multiple sources identified them as Louis Iorio, Paul Cozzolino and Mark Hanna.
Bickford was shot in the shoulder by police and remains in hospital. Prosecutors had no immediate information on when Bickford would be arraigned.
The police said the NYPD were assaulted in an "unprovoked" attack late Saturday night.
One of the injured officers shot the teen in the shoulder, the police said.
Bickford is "self-radicalized” in Islamic extremism, the law enforcement source told Newsday.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in the investigation, the source said. The FBI had opened a case on Bickford in November, the source said.
This photo provided by NYPD, New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell address the media during a news conference on Saturday. Credit: AP
The attack occurred at about 10:11 p.m. at the corner of West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue — outside the security zone for the Times Square ball-drop gathering, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said over the weekend.
“Unprovoked, a 19-year-old male approached an officer and attempted to strike him over the head with a machete. The male then struck two additional officers in the head with a machete,” she said.
One of the officers, on the force for eight years, suffered a deep cut to the head, she said. Another cop, who graduated from the police academy on Friday and was on his first day on the job, also suffered a deep cut and a skull fracture. The injuries to the third officer weren’t disclosed.
“One of the officers fired their service weapon, striking the subject in the shoulder,” she said.
Mayor Eric Adams, speaking at a news conference at Bellevue Hospital with police officials, said: “It is a happy new year’s. We have three officers who are going home.”
Bickford is believed to have acted alone, according to Michael Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office.
The officers' body-worn cameras are being reviewed, Adams said. The footage has not yet been made public.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
