Driver charged in shooting death of NYPD officer Jonathan Diller

QUEENS - The driver behind the wheel when NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Queens has been arrested and charged.

Lindy Jones, 41, of Queens, was charged on Wednesday morning with criminal possession of a weapon and defacing a weapon. 

According to police, Jones was in the driver’s seat of an illegally parked vehicle at a bus stop when the officers asked the men inside to step out just before 6 p.m. in Far Rockaway. That's when the suspect in the passenger's seat, identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera, refused and pointed a gun at the officers and fired, police said.

The bullet struck Diller in the stomach, just beneath his bullet-proof vest. Diller's partner returned fire, wounding Rivera, who was taken to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition. Charges against him are pending.

Diller, meanwhile, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he later died. He leaves behind a wife and a 1-year-old son. According to Mayor Eric Adams, Rivera has more than 20 prior arrests.

Shortly before Jones was charged, officers recovered a second weapon – a 9-millimeter firearm – in the glove compartment of the vehicle, sources told The New York Post. They are investigating whether the gun belongs to Jones.

A wake for Diller will be held Thursday and Friday at Massapequa Funeral Home. Diller's funeral will be held Saturday at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. 

The murder is the NYPD's first police killing since 2022, when two officers – Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22 – were ambushed in a Harlem apartment building after responding to a domestic disturbance call.