OZONE PARK — An NYPD detective once tasked with guarding Mayor Michael Bloomberg was convicted of attempted murder Thursday.
Leopold McLean, 48, a 19-year NYPD veteran, was charged with shooting 39-year-old Lepaul Gammons in the buttocks in November 2010 after a dispute involving a woman they had both dated.
“This is truly a sad day for everyone when a police officer is convicted of breaking the very laws he had sworn to uphold," Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement. "But in the pursuit of justice, nobody is above the law. The defendant must now bear responsibility for his actions.”
McLean started dating a personal trainer about the same time he started working in the NYPD's Intelligence Division, which protects the mayor, sources said.
On Nov. 15, 2010, he traveled to the woman's home in Queens near 119th Road and 153rd Street about 12:34 a.m. and crossed paths with Gammons, who wasn't supposed to be there because the woman had an order of protection against him, prosecutors and sources said.
McLean then pulled a gun on Gammon.
"Are you going to shoot me?" Gammons asked, according to prosecutors.
"I have something for you," McLean responded.
Gammons then turned and ran, but McLean shot and hit him, the Queens DA's office said. As Gammons raced back to his car, McLean fired more shots.
Gammons initially went into hiding, fearful that he would get in trouble for violating the protection order, but after a few days he went to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, sources said.
Ballistic tests confirmed that the bullet came from McLean's gun, prosecutors said.
McLean faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
"We fully intend to appeal this verdict," said his lawyer, Stephen Worth. "Detective McLean has had an exemplary career and we're confident that the truth will ultimately be known."
