Of all the explanations for "why he made such huge blunders now despite being competent before" I think this is the most likely. He saw the media circus, saw his 5 minutes of fame and tried to cash in, not realising that this makes him look like a dipshit instead of a hero.

Personally I think this guy is probably a patsy or scapegoat the NYPD picked up to make it look like they're doing something after this made them a laughing stock. It'll probably be revealed in 6-12 months when this finally goes to trial that there is 0 evidence this guy did it and the cops actually had no leads at all.