Child Molester Caught After Airing of "The Hunt"
WHITFIELD: All right. We're getting more details on the events that led police to a shootout with a fugitive in New York City. A fugitive that had been featured on "THE HUNT" with John Walsh seen on CNN in the U.S. Deborah Feyerick has more.</s>DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The search for suspected child molester and fugitive, Charles Mozdir ends here inside a tiny smoke shop selling things like pipes and palms (ph) in New York City's West Village . The shoot-out at this smoke shop in Manhattan's busy west village.</s>BILL BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Mozdir fired upon the officers at very close range and the officers returned fire.</s>FEYERICK: The U.S. marshal's New York/New Jersey regional task force tracked Modzir to the busy street. After a profile on CNN's "THE HUNT" with John Walsh.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son sat me down and said, mom, I have something to tell you.</s>FEYERICK: Charlie Mozdir, his friends called him, was suspected of molesting his 5-year-old godson as the boy's mother slept nearby. The segment was still airing when a Florida woman called a hot line with a crucial lead.</s>STEVE JURMAN, U.S. MARSHAL: The tipster stated, I know Mozdir.</s>FEYERICK: In New York, people who knew him, knew him not as Charlie Modzir. They knew him as John Smith, the heavy guy with the bushy beard and ponytails who seemed to blend in with the darker, slightly seedier side of life here on west 4th street.</s>JURMAN: He had a history of working in smoke shops. He had a hobby of blowing glass, which would come in handy at a smoke shop.</s>FEYERICK: And he seemed friendly enough On Yelp, customers rated the man they called big John as super helpful. Another saying, quote, "John is the dude. He was pretty chilled and very helpful." He was also under the radar, living blocks from the shop in apartment 3a with his black Labrador, lucky. A neighbor who also has a black lab described him as weird.</s>NATASHA CHALLAPALLY, NEIGHBOR: The way he just stared at you and just not friendly and, you know, just gave out bad vibes despite being a dog owner. Because usually, people on this block when they have dogs, they're friendly.</s>FEYERICK: Police later searched his apartment and recovered a computer, a laptop and West Virginia driver's license.</s>JURMAN: He managed to do everything in cash. Probably obtained a very good fake I.D. trying to live completely off the grid.</s>FEYERICK: Off the grid until "THE HUNT," and the crucial hot line tips that followed. Around lunchtime Monday, the U.S. Marshals regional task force made its move. An NYPD detective went in and identified Mozdir. He was alone and weary. When he saw the two U.S. marshals run in, that's when he grabbed the .32 caliber revolver and was able to get five shots.</s>BRATTON: During the exchange of gunfire, the detective and two marshals were wounded. Charles Mazdir was shot dead.</s>FEYERICK: One U.S. marshal was shot near the leg, another in the arm. The NYPD detective assigned to the task force shot three times including in the abdomen. Modzir had an additional 20 rounds of ammo in his pocket.</s>BRATTON: The way to see is where the vowed edge and the one we covered in the vest.</s>FEYERICK: All the officers were treated and relieved. Modzir's life as a fugitive traveling from his California home to Mexico, Georgia, Florida, and New York, had come to a violent end. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.</s>WHITFIELD: And of course you can watch "THE HUNT" tonight, 9:00 Eastern Time. That's going to do It for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for being with me and Jake Tapper today. Now, THE NEWSROOM continues with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto.