Trevor Bickford’s alleged attack on police using a large machete was captured on officer body-worn camera footage. Courtesy United States Attorneys Office
A 19-year-old Wells man accused of attacking police officers near Times Square on New Year’s Eve had been taken to a hospital two weeks earlier out of concerns that he was suffering from psychosis or mania, but hospital staff quickly released him.
New details about Trevor Bickford’s possible mental state before and after the attack were included in a motion to dismiss part of the case filed on July 14 in federal court by his defense attorneys, Jennifer Brown and Marisa Cabrera.
Bickford is accused of attacking a group of NYPD officers standing just outside the security perimeter for the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square. Police said that two officers were struck in the head with a knife before Bickford was shot in the shoulder by a third officer. He now faces state and federal charges, including attempted murder and terrorism charges.
Anonymous law enforcement sources told The Associated Press after the attack that Bickford had converted to Islam sometime in the past year and a half, and had been drifting toward more radical ideology. After family members reported their concerns to the Wells Police Department, Bickford was placed on an FBI watchlist that prevented him from traveling internationally.
The new court documents show Bickford was taken to an emergency room near his home on Dec. 10 at the request of his mother, who sought medical assistance for her son, “whom she believed to be struggling with severe mental illness,” the attorneys wrote.
“Citing his erratic and irrational behavior, his recent obsession with Islam and his unregulated moods, Mr. Bickford’s mother believed that he was suffering from psychosis and/or mania,” the motion says.
The psychiatric department determined that he was not a risk to himself or others and Bickford was not admitted for further evaluation, according to the motion. The hospital was not named in court documents.
“Without a diagnosis or a treatment plan, a few weeks later, on December 27, 2022, Mr. Bickford traveled by himself on Amtrak from his home in Maine to New York City. With clothing, food, a kukri knife, and a letter from his mother tucked away in his baggage, Mr. Bickford spent the next few days in a local hotel on the lower east side,” Brown and Cabrera wrote. “Mr. Bickford traveled to Times Square with his kukri and attacked a group of three on-duty New York City police officers who were congregated together.”
Attempts to reach Bickford’s family in Maine on Friday were unsuccessful.
Bickford was shot in the shoulder by one of the officers, then taken to Bellevue Hospital. While lying in his hospital bed, he waived his Miranda rights and was interrogated by investigators, according to the filing. After he was treated for the gunshot wound, Bickford was transferred to the psychiatric unit, where he remained for more than a month.
Bickford suffered from auditory hallucinations in the form of “popping” sounds that informed his decision-making, according to his attorneys. He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and prescribed various antipsychotics and mood stabilizers.
Bickford would likely have remained admitted to Bellevue’s psychiatric unit had it not been for the federal charges he faced, according to his attorneys. Prosecutors have not filed a response to the motion and could not immediately be reached Friday afternoon.
The federal government filed a seven-count indictment against Bickford on Feb. 15 charging him with four counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault on U.S. government officers or employees and people assisting them. The NYPD officers injured in the attack were on duty as part of the joint FBI-NYPD operation to protect civilians during the New Year’s Eve festivities, according to the federal indictment.
Bickford was previously indicted on 18 state-level charges, including attempted murder and assault, and pleaded not guilty.
His attorneys are asking the court to dismiss several of the federal charges, arguing the government inflated Bickford’s actions on a single night into several separate charges that stem from the same conduct.
“In doing so, it not only challenges the principles of fairness, but it also violates the Double Jeopardy Clause as the indictment is multiplicitous in that it charges Mr. Bickford with the same act of attempted murder more than once,” the motion says.
The motion asks the court to dismiss either the charge of attempting to murder “military-aged men working for the US Government” or three other counts of attempting to kill three specific NYPD officers because he cannot constitutionally be tried on all four counts.
Brown and Cabrera argue the government “is seeking to expose nineteen-year-old Mr. Bickford to a maximum term of 140 years by creating a fourth attempted murder charge stemming from a single episode allegedly committed during a psychotic break.”
If count one is dismissed, he still faces 120 years in prison, according to the motion.
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