The Bronx man who shot Middletown police officer Evan Barone two years ago was sentenced by an Orange County judge to 58 and a half years in state prison on Oct. 12.
The 31-year-old defendant, Desean Owens, got 40 years for attempted murder in the first degree and another 18 and a half years for criminal weapon possession and trespassing.
Barone still receives medical treatment for the shooting injury he sustained and has not returned to work at the police department, according to Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw on Oct. 13.
“He is doing the best he can under the circumstances,” Ewanciw told The Epoch Times.
On Aug. 29, 2020, Barone, a 26-year-old neighborhood enhancement officer at the time, was patrolling alone in a marked police car when he was flagged down by a female resident.
She said a man had entered her Myrtle Avenue house without permission and asked for help. Barone followed her and drove up to the house.
Right after he got out of the car, the female resident’s former boyfriend Owens exited the residence and—without any warning—fired a shot at Barone, who quickly returned fire before Owens could strike again.
At the time of the shooting, a car behind Barone had children inside.
“There were people all around him when this occurred. I truly believe that if it wasn’t for officer Barone being there at that moment and stopping that individual, he was going to cause harm to others,” Ewanciw said.
The bullet entered Barone’s left arm, damaging a nerve and shattering a bone before lodging in his police vest.
At the time, not every Middletown officer wore a body camera, but most of the incident was captured on a resident’s ring camera,
Four months later, all Middletown officers were equipped with body cameras while on duty.
Under a years-old protocol between the county and local law enforcement agencies, Orange County District Attorney’s Office is the lead investigative agency in any officer use-of-force cases where a suspect or a bystander sustains serious bodily injuries or dies.
Throughout the investigation, Owens maintained his innocence and refused a plea offer from the district attorney’s office.
On May 13, a jury found Owens guilty of six counts of crime, including attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated assault on a police officer, assault in the first degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal trespass in the first degree.
Owens was also sentenced on the assault and reckless endangerment charges, but those are to run concurrently with his 40 years for the attempted murder count.
