STATEN ISLAND — An ex-con will spend 12 years to life in prison after he wrestled an NYPD officer to the ground and tried to steal her gun, District Attorney Michael McMahon announced Monday.
Dante Martin, 36, was sentenced to prison Monday after he pleaded guilty last month to assault for attacking the officer who was guarding him inside Richmond University Medical Center.
"Today’s sentence ensures that this defendant will spend many years behind bars for violently assaulting a police officer," McMahon said in a statement.
"The brave men and women of the NYPD risk their lives every day to protect us, and my office will continue to vigorously prosecute anyone who attempts to do them harm."
Martin was first arrested Aug. 25 after officers responded to a 911 call of a man threatening a woman with a gun near 55 Holland Ave., prosecutors said.
After he was in custody, Martin claimed he needed medical attention for a seizure condition and was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, a law enforcement source previously said.
On Aug. 28, he told the officer guarding him that he needed to use the bathroom then attacked her when she removed his handcuffs, prosecutors said.
Martin threw her to the ground, wrapped his arms around her, punched her then tried to remove her gun from her holster, getting his finger on the the trigger, authorities said.
The rookie officer screamed for help when a patient on the same floor, Rafael Muniz, ran in and grabbed Martin's arm, Muniz told ABC7.
"He had a moment of clarity, looked at me and I said, 'You don't have to do it'," Muniz, 42, told the station.
"His reply was, 'But I have my finger on the trigger.' I told him, 'Just take it off the trigger' — after the second time, he did."
Other officers then rushed into the room and arrested Martin. He was indicted for attempted murder charges but pleaded guilty to assault and criminal possession of a weapon last month.
Martin has been arrested several times before and was out on parole since January after he spent time in Woodbourne Correctional Facility for assault and weapons charges, according to Department of Corrections records.
He also spent eight years in prison for attempted assault until his release in 2007, records show.
