Maine man pleads guilty to attempted murder of NYPD cops in New Year’s Eve knife attack
A Maine man who authorities said was obsessed with radical Islamic jihadism pleaded guilty on Thursday to attacking three NYPD officers with a huge curved knife at last year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations near Times Square.
Trevor Bickford, then 19, went after three officers manning a checkpoint at W. 52nd St. and Eighth Ave. around 10 p.m., declaring “Allahu Akbar” as he swung the blade at the cops, according to court documents.
One of the officers then shot the teen in the shoulder.
Rookie officer Paul Cozzolino, a recent graduate of the Police Academy working his first day on the job, suffered a large laceration to his head and a skull fracture. Another cop was also cut in the head.
Bickford was investigated before the attack after alarming family members with his new extremist beliefs, as he began researching the Taliban and expressed interest in traveling to Afghanistan to join them.
Cops recovered his bag after the attack and found an apologetic note addressed to his mother and family, expressing how he hadn’t felt like a good enough person and encouraging them to accept Allah.
He was staying in a homeless shelter in the city at the time of the attack, police sources said.
Bickford pleaded guilty to six of the seven charges, including attempting murder. He was remanded to the Metropolitan Detention Center after his plea.
