Edwin Santana, the 33-year-old homeless man whose gun discharged, hitting police officer Rodney Lewis in the chest on Sunday, July 26, was arraigned the next day on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and assault and ordered held on $100,000 bail.
Published reports also claim that Santana had served 15 years in prison for killing a man in 1991.
Now, he may face another 15 years.
The NYPD said that the early-morning incident began when uniformed officers from the 104th Precinct responded to a 9-1-1 call, for a family dispute with a firearm at 1818 Menahan Street. It was followed by a second 9-1-1 call for a dispute at Seneca and Gates Avenues.
Lewis, 40, a four-and-a-half year veteran, and his partner, officer Mark Bublin, with the force for three years, while canvassing the area observed a male fitting the description from the 9-1-1 calls. The suspect, identified by the NYPD as Santana, was stopped in front of 1812 Menahan Street, and while officers frisked him, they discovered a gun in the front of his waistband.
Bublin immediately retrieved the gun and Santana, in an effort to avoid arrest, say police, began to struggle violently. During the struggle, the gun was knocked to the ground, where it discharged once, with the bullet striking Lewis, a father of three, in the left side of his chest, just above his bullet-resistant vest. The bullet lodged under the officer’s skin, but did not penetrate his chest, according to reports from the NYPD.
Although officer Lewis was wounded, he and his partner were able to take Santana into custody.
Lewis told his partner, “I’m shot,” and was immediately placed in a patrol car and transported to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in stable condition and was expected to make a full recovery.
The gun that the suspect was carrying was a .32 caliber long revolver that holds six bullets. The gun, along with five live rounds and one spent shell casing, were recovered at the scene.
An attorney for Santana from the Legal Aide Society declined comment on Tuesday, July 28.
