UNNAMED BOY - 7 yo (6/12) - / Suspect: Family friend, Charles Mozdir deceased - San Diego, CA-

Man killed in West Village police shoot-out molested friend's son, had been on the run for 2 years




Charles Mozdir had been on the run for more than two years after he was accused of molesting a friend’s 7-year-old son and missed his June 2012 arraignment. His story had recently been featured on John Walsh’s ‘The Hunt.’ Word of his death stunned his family in California.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, July 28, 2014, 3:32 PM
Updated: Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 12:56 AM


Charles Mozdir was identified as the gunman who exchanged fire with cops and U.S. Marshals on Monday.


The gunman killed in a wild West Village shootout with the law Monday is an accused child molester who has been on the run for more than two years.

Charles Mozdir, who is from suburban San Diego, was wanted for fondling the genitals of his friend’s 7-year-old son and vanished after failing to show up for his June 2012 arraignment.

His sister told cops the last time she saw Mozdir he was walking “Lucky,” his black Lab.

Word of the 32-year-old fugitive’s death in a smoke shop at the hands of an NYPD detective and two U.S. Marshals stunned his family in California.

“Oh my God, oh shoot,” said a 65-year-old relative who asked not to be identified.

He said the alleged sex fiend featured in recent episodes of CNN’s new series "The Hunt with John Walsh,” which stars the former “America’s Most Wanted” host, was nothing like the young man he knew.

“He was a nice kid,” the relative said. “He was a ski rescue worker at” the Big Bear Lake resort outside Los Angeles.

Marcus Santos/New York daily News

Mozdir was killed during the Monday shoot-out in the West Village.

On the show’s website, Mozdir’s friends described him as an oddball who “seemed to have a secret life and told outlandish stories about his overseas travels.”

Still, they were close enough to Mozdir to have him take the photographs at their wedding — and trusted him enough to have him help out when their son was sick with a fever and the father was out of town on business.

That was a mistake.

The couple claims that while the mother was busy trying to take care of their newborn daughter, Mozdir molested their sick son.

In the morning, the clueless mother even thanked Mozdir for being "a great godfather," according to the CNN show.

But when the boy told them what happened, the couple called the Coronado cops and they found evidence of child pornography and bestiality on his cellphone and computers.

Charles Mozdir was featured on recent episodes of CNN’s new series 'The Hunt with John Walsh.' Walsh (pictured) is the former host of 'America's Most Wanted.'

The shocked couple also learned that Mozdir had been accused of molesting another boy he had been babysitting.

But by then, Mozdir was on the run and police suspected, at first, that he might have fled to Mexico or Japan.

His roommate also warned detectives that Mozdir had two guns and had threatened to kill himself and kill a victim's father.

A few days after Mozdir split, police found his car on the other side of the country, in coastal Darien, Ga. It was hidden in some brush, with an extra gas tank inside and the license plates torn off.

A bloodhound picked up Mozdir’s scent on a nearby highway but the trail turned cold after that.

Mozdir was able to elude police, according to CNN, because he had EMT training and appeared to have the ability to “live off the land for extended periods of time.”

Steve Jurman, a supervisory deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service, told CNN that they believe Mozdir molested other kids.

tmoore@nydailynews.com


http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/west-village-shooter-molested-friend-son-article-1.1883013