By Madina Toure
A 24-year-old armed Whitestone man, who was charged with drug possession in January, was fatally shot and killed by a retired NYPD police officer after he tried to rob patrons at a Whitestone bar early Monday, police said.
The man, identified by police as Andrew McClean, has seven prior arrests in January, including one for heroin possession as well as six other arrests that are sealed, according to a police spokesman. His next court date was July 11, according to a spokeswoman for District Attorney Richard Brown.
The former police officer, a 69-year-old man who worked in Upper Manhattan for seven years and retired in 1975 with three-quarters disability pension, has not been charged at this time, the spokesman said.
At about 3:53 a.m., police responded to a call about a man shot at The Parkside Pub at 24-14 149th St.
When they arrived, officers discovered McClean with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
EMS responded and pronounced him dead at the scene, police continued.
McClean had entered the bar armed with a firearm and was in the process of robbing the establishment, officials said.
When he tried to rob the patrons, the former cop fired one round from a firearm, striking the robber in the head, police said.
On Jan. 29 between 8 a.m. and 4:08 p.m., McClean was seen standing near an open window of a room at the Flushing Grand Hotel at 36-38 Main St. with another apprehended individual, John Grisales, according to a complaint filed by the DA’s office.
A bag was discovered on the landing one floor below the hotel room, the complaint said.
A detective recovered 104 glassine envelopes from the bag, each containing a quantity of heroin, eight pills of oxycodone, two full pills of Xanax and two half-pills of Xanax, the complaint continued.
One of the glassine envelopes contained a quantity of heroin from the floor as well as one Xanax tablet from the bathroom in the hotel room, the court documents said.
The detective was able to determine the substances recovered based upon his experience as a police officer and in his training in the identification and packaging of controlled substances and marijuana, the complaint said.
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
