By Jeremy Walsh
The homeless man whose frisking resulted in the shooting of a police officer in Ridgewood this summer will spend five years behind bars, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office said.
Edwin Santana, 33, was arrested July 26. He pleaded guilty Oct. 14 to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced Nov. 2 to five years in prison by Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt.
At 4:50 a.m. July 26, Police Officer Mark Bublin and his partner, Officer Rodney Lewis, were doing a canvass for a bald, Hispanic male who was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend at 18-18 Menahan St. in Ridgewood.
Bublin saw Santana, who matched the description the officers had received but was not the man who had started the dispute, walking in front of 18-12 Menahan St. and ordered him to stop and raise his hands. As Bublin patted Santana down, he felt a gun on the left side of Santana’s waistband.
As Bublin was removing the gun from Santana’s waistband, he quickly turned around and faced the officer, causing Bublin to drop the gun to the ground. The .32-caliber revolver went off when it hit the ground, sending a single bullet into the left side of Lewis’ chest. The bullet lodged under his skin but did not penetrate further.
Bublin allegedly spun Santana back around and handcuffed him when he heard Lewis say he had been shot. Lewis was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, treated and released.
The New York Times reported the pistol was between 60 and 70 years old and had been reported stolen decades ago.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
