Fired At Man In Off-Duty Dispute
A veteran NYPD detective has been convicted of attempted murder in connection with an off-duty shooting in Jamaica in which an unarmed man was wounded.
Leopold McLean, 48, of Queens-a member of the NYPD for 19 years-was convicted last Thursday, May 23, of second-degree attempted murder and first-and second-degree reckless endangerment following a jury trial before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice James P. Griffin, who revoked McLean’s bail and ordered him remanded into custody.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 13, at which time McLean faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison.
“This is truly a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of breaking the very laws he had sworn to uphold. But in the pursuit of justice, nobody is above the law,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement announcing the verdict. “The defendant must now bear responsibility for his actions.”
According to trial testimony, McLean approached the then-39- year-old male victim in the vicinity of 119th Road and 153rd Street at approximately 12:34 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2010, and demanded to know why the man was at that location-the residence of a woman known to both men.
At that point, authorities said, McLean pointed a black handgun at the man, who asked if McLean was going to shoot him. McLean then stated that he had something for the victim and lowered the black handgun and reached down toward his ankle, at which point the victim ran from the location, which was captured on video surveillance.
As he ran, he heard gunshots coming from where McLean had been standing. As he ran down 119th Road toward Sutphin Boulevard, the victim sustained a gunshot that entered and exited his buttocks. The man climbed a fence of a neighboring yard and hid briefly.
As he ran back to his car, McLean fired more shots. The incident ended when the victim managed to drive off in his car.
Ballistic tests on a bullet recovered from a fence post located on the north side of a location on 153rd Street determined that the bullet came from the Kahr 9mm Luger registered to McLean.
The victim, who suffered substantial pain, impaired mobility and a high fever as a result of the gunshot wound, was subsequently taken to Jamaica Hospital for treatment.
The investigation was conducted by Lt. Paul Smith of the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau Group 1 under the supervision of Deputy Inspector Joseph DiBartolomeo and Chief Charles V. Campisi.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Phyllis C. Weiss of District Attorney Brown’s Integrity Bureau, Carmencita Gutierrez, deputy bureau chief of the Integrity Bureau, and Roni C. Piplani of the Appeals Bureau, with assistance from Paralegal Tara-Anne Tiles, under the supervision of James M. Liander, bureau chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Linda M. Cantoni.
