The DEA Honor Roll

On March 25, 2024, on a bustling street at around 5:40 p.m., members of the Queens North Community Response Team were conducting a traffic stop of a car which was parked in the bus lane in front of 19-19 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens. Officer Jonathan Diller approached the passenger side of the Kia Soul and asked several times for the passenger, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, to take his hands out of his pockets and exit the vehicle. Diller received no response, but instead, Rivera pulled a gun and shot P.O. Diller in the stomach, just below his bullet-resistant vest. After shooting Officer Diller, Rivera aimed his gun at a Sergeant who used his hand to deflect the firearm. The gun was loaded, but jammed. Diller, although shot, disarmed the perp. Officer Diller’s partner returned fire, hitting Rivera.

The wounds were not fatal for the perpetrator. Officer Diller, however, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he later succumbed to his wounds and died.

Rivera had 21 prior arrests and later it was discovered he had a shiv stored in his rectum in anticipation of possibly going back to prison. Rivera was charged with murder in the first and second degrees, attempted murder in the first and second degrees, four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lindy Jones, the driver of the car, also had a long rap sheet. Members of the Queens District Attorney’s office and the 101st Precinct obtained a search warrant for the vehicle, which led to the discovery of a loaded 9 mm pistol inside the glove compartment. The firearm was found to be defaced, with the serial number scratched off. Jones was arraigned on weapon possession charges.

The precarious and dangerous nature of car stops, and the recklessness with which career criminals were suddenly, without warning, opening fire on crowded City streets, even at the police, became the focal point of Officer Diller’s shocking death.

After a two-day wake, Officer Diller was promoted to Detective First Grade at his funeral on March 30, 2024, the day before Easter Sunday, where a crowd of 10,000 amassed at the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Massapequa, Long Island. Det. Diller was assigned shield number #110, commemorating his one-year-old son’s birthday. The overflowing crowd included law enforcement representation from throughout the country. Stephanie Diller, Jonathan’s 29-year-old widow, delivered a moving eulogy which addressed the lax criminal laws, such as bail reform and other anti-police legislation, that permitted the killers — two miscreants with long rap sheets — to still be walking the streets wreaking havoc.

An athletic sports lover, Diller skied, played hockey, and lacrosse, and was on the ball team of his precinct. The youngest of three children, he was a graduate of the State University of New York’s Maritime College and worked in the shipping industry before joining the NYPD in February of 2021. During his three years on the force, Det. Diller made more than 70 arrests and received three Excellent Police Duty medals. He was described by colleagues as someone who was always positive, eager to learn, and dedicated to the job he loved. His wife, whom he married in 2019, said he adored being a husband and a father.

Det. Diller was 31 years old at the time of his death. He is buried at St. Charles Resurrection Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.