Former NYC Cop Who Fired Gun At Date's Car In Watchung Sentenced

WATCHUNG, NJ — A former off-duty New York City Police sergeant, who was on a date with a Watchung man, was sentenced to prison for firing her service gun at his vehicle in 2014 after getting into a fight with his girlfriend.

On Friday, Wanda Anthony, 48, of Staten Island, New York was sentenced to to five years in New Jersey State Prison, with 42 months to be served without parole, for her conviction for second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and disorderly persons criminal mischief, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson announced.

She had been convicted on the charges on Oct. 12, 2017, following a three-week jury trial in Somerville.

On April 30, 2014, Anthony, who was off-duty at the time, was on a date with a High Tor Drive resident. While at the resident's home, Anthony got into a physical fight with the girlfriend of the resident, Robertson said.

Anthony showed her NYPD issued 9mm handgun and fired one round into the High Tor Drive resident's vehicle parked in the driveway. The round shattered the rear driver's side door window and got stuck in the vehicle's right front A-pillar, Robertson said.

Anthony fled the scene after firing the shot, and was located nearby and arrested by Watchung Police Officer Brian McLaughlin.

Anthony denied firing her weapon, but a forensic technician employed by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office later recovered two projectile fragments from the resident's vehicle, and a Somerset County Prosecutor's Office ballistics expert matched the projectile fragments to Anthony's handgun.

After the incident, Anthony was terminated by the NYPD.

(Image via Somerset County Prosecutor's Office: Wanda Anthony, 48, of Staten Island, New York)

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