NY State trooper suspended without pay as cops probe challenge his story about being shot during LI traffic stop

The New York State trooper who claimed he was shot during a traffic stop on Long Island last week was suspended without pay — as officials probe whether he lied about the incident, authorities said.

Police spent hours searching Trooper Thomas Mascia’s home in West Hempstead on Monday after launching an internal investigation into his account of the Oct. 30 saga that sparked a days-long hunt for the apparent gunman.

State cops also abruptly canceled the alert they’d issued for the black Dodge Charger with temporary New Jersey plates that the 27-year-old trooper had alleged was involved in the shooting.

The department declined to comment further on Mascia’s suspension.

“We can’t get into specifics while the investigation is ongoing,” a police spokesperson said.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said her office was “actively investigating certain inconsistencies” tied to the case.

Her office, too, declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.

Police sources had earlier said investigators were probing whether Mascia shot himself during the ordeal — and that he was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

Neighbors told Newsday that investigators had started knocking on doors to ask residents questions and seek doorbell camera footage from them.

The trooper is believed to be the son of Thomas Mascia Sr., former partner of NYPD officer Michael Dowd — one of the most corrupt officers in the Big Apple’s history, multiple sources told The Post.

The pair, who worked alongside each other in the 94th precinct, were both busted in the 1990s — and featured on The Post’s front page — for running a cocaine ring linking Brooklyn to Suffolk County.

Dowd notoriously ended up spending 12 years in prison for shaking down drug dealers, pilfering their wares and then selling the drugs when he worked Brooklyn’s 75 Precinct in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

The younger Mascia reported that a motorist had opened fire on him when he pulled over on the Southern State Parkway highway and started approaching the vehicle at about 11:30 p.m.

“Shots fired! Shots fired! I’m hit! I think my kneecap is broken,” Mascia said on the police radio as he called it in.

Another trooper responded to his call and rushed him to the Nassau University Medical Center where he underwent surgery.

Mascia was released from hospital last Friday as cops put out a $10,000 reward for any information tied to the shooting. 

The Post reached out to Mascia about the probe but didn’t hear back immediately.

Jeffrey Lichtman, a lawyer representing the trooper, said he was still gathering facts about the case.

“Nothing to offer beyond that at this time, unfortunately,” he said.

With Post wires