The man who allegedly tried to hold up a Richmond Hill cell phone store, triggering the tragic chain of events that led to the friendly-fire death of an NYPD detective, has a long record of arrests—but mostly for low-level and sometimes odd crimes.
In fact, a video from Ransom's YouTube page shows him in a towel and underwear offering superhero services to the 71st Precinct.
Criminal complaints obtained by NY1 show he's been arrested 25 times since 2010, including for criminal impersonation when he posed as a college student to get an internship at Brooklyn Supreme Court.
His Facebook is plastered with images of the caper. Sitting on the witness stand and taking photos with court officers.
He was ordered to stay away, but came back and was charged with criminal contempt and criminal trespass.
In 2016, he tried to enter the 77th Precinct Stationhouse in Crown Heights through a locked door at 5 a.m. When he couldn't get in, he jumped a fence, went inside and walked up to the precinct desk, wearing this fake swat vest.
A video from 2015 shows Ransom being held at gunpoint outside a Brooklyn stationhouse.
And in another video, he's seen falsely calling in a fire, and standing in front of the arriving truck with a towel draped around his neck like a cape and then running after it.
But his conduct took a more sinister turn recently.
The Queens Robbery Squad had been seeking Ransom since October, for allegedly robbing four cellphone stores.
Surveillance video from one of those stickups, in Queens last month, shows him holding what appears to be a fake gun.
Detectives say he took phones and $850.
A few days later he wrote on Facebook: "It took me 27 years to realize that I’m not a job type of dude."
Then, Tuesday night, outside a T-Mobile store on Atlantic Avenue, cops say Ransom drew the imitation pistol again, but this time on cops who interrupted his robbery.
Terence Monahan/Chief of Department
“The perpetrator, Christopher Ransom, charged at the officers pretending to fire a gun,” said Terence Monahan, Chief of Department for the NYPD. "We're going to be looking for the public's help in getting more information about him and what he may or may not be involved in."
Ransom was struck four times during Tuesday's incident. He's charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, and robbery.