NYC cop thought he was a law unto himself

A veteran detective assigned to the mayor’s security team was charged on Friday with attempted murder, accused of shooting a man while off duty and then failing to report it, prosecutors said.

The detective, Leopold McLean, 46, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court. Prosecutors said that he shot Lepaul Gammons, 39, as Mr. Gammons ran away from him in the early hours of Nov. 15.

The two men got into a dispute at the home in South Jamaica of a woman who knew them both, according to the criminal complaint. Mr. Gammons had been barred from the home by an order of protection, because of domestic violence between him and the woman, but it expired that night, prosecutors said.

Mr. McLean challenged Mr. Gammons’s presence, pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, the complaint said, and Mr. Gammons ran away. As Mr. Gammons ran down 119th Road, he was shot once in the buttocks, according to the complaint. He was not believed to have been armed.

James M. Liander, an assistant district attorney, said in court that Mr. McLean and the woman reported a robbery that night — but not the shooting.

Gilbert Parris, a lawyer for Mr. McLean, said he would be exonerated. “My client is a 17-year veteran with an exemplary record,” he said.

Mr. McLean was a member of the mayor’s advance team, which scouts locations before the mayor’s arrival. The police department suspended Mr. McLean without pay pending the outcome of the case. His gun and badge were taken from him, said Paul J. Browne, the department’s chief spokesman.

Additional charges against Mr. McLean include assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment. He was released on $10,000 bail, Mr. Parris said.

Original report here




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