Chelsea Bombing Suspect Pleads 'Not Guilty' to Attempted Murder of N.J. Police Officers

CHELSEA, NY — Ahmad Rahimi, the 28-year-old New Jersey resident accused of planting a series of homemade bombs in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood last fall, pleaded "not guilty" Tuesday to the attempted murder of five police officers who tracked him down and tried to arrest him for the bombing according to the New York Daily News.

Police caught up to Rahimi, an Afghan-born American citizen, in Linden, N.J., on Sept. 19, two days after he allegedly planted a bomb in Seaside Park, N.J., and another two bombs in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. (Although only one of the Chelsea bombs ended up detonating as planned.)

Rahimi reportedly limped into the court room Tuesday in Elizabeth, N.J., in a prayer cap and a bulletproof vest.

During a messy shootout between the suspect and his pursuing officers, pictured below, Rahimi was hit with seven bullets — none of which killed him — and two police officers were injured.

Prosecutors revealed during Tuesday's four-minute hearing that they do not intend to offer Rahimi a plea deal.

The alleged Chelsea bomber has been held without bail since his Sept. 19 arrest.

He faces separate federal charges — to which he has also pleaded not guilty — for the pair of Sept. 17 bombings: The first, along the route of a Marine Corps charity race in Seaside Park, N.J., and the second hours later at West 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan.

The second bomb went off around 8:30 p.m., causing minor injuries to around 30 civilians. A second (undetonated) pressure-cooker bomb was also discovered on West 27th Street.

While the motive behind the bombings remains unclear, Rahimi sued police in 2011 for "harassing" and "intimidating" him and his family over a period of several years, subjecting their family business — a chicken joint in Elizabeth — to discrimination and "selective enforcement." An officer allegedly told them that "Muslims should not have businesses here."

Investigators also believe he may have been radicalized during trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years.

The federal trial for the bombings will begin in Manhattan on March 27.

In the meantime, Rahimi is due back in New Jersey court on Feb. 28.