Cop 'Killed' 20 Years Ago Actually Still Alive, NYPD Says

THE BRONX, NY — A Florida man was reportedly arrested last week and accused of killing an NYPD cop who's actually been alive the whole time.

Authorities arrested Lester Pearson in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday in connection with the 1999 shooting of Officer Vincent Ling, according to news reports. In a since-removed Sunday tweet, Police Commssioner James O'Neill thanked the U.S. Marshals Service and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for "capturing the career criminal who killed off-duty #NYPD Officer Vincent Ling in 1999."

But the NYPD said Ling is actually alive and retired from the force. The confusion about his death stemmed a misreading of the attempted murder charge on Pearson's arrest warrant, the department said.

"He's very much alive," Ling's uncle, Thomas Ling, told the New York Daily News, which first reported the mix-up. "I saw him last year."

Pearson, 43, and Ling got into a gunfight in December 1999 amid an argument over Ling's sister, leaving the off-duty cop with a bullet in his spine, the Daily News reported. Pearson was arrested while leaving of his garage, according to the paper.

Pearson has more than 100,000 Instagram followers under the name Monsta Kodi, which was reportedly his rap moniker.