Man Sentenced for Threatening Cops with Gun

An Inwood man was sentenced Tuesday for threatening police and residents in the Five Towns during an incident in 2012, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

George Towns, 30, was sentenced to 11 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision by Judge Teresa Corrigan.

Towns pleaded guilty to a battery of felony and misdemeanor charges, including threatening police and weapons and assault charges.

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On Feb. 24, 2012, Towns approached a 56-year-old man in Inwood and said “I heard you call the cops; this is my territory.” Towns then pointed a black handgun at the victim, officials said.

Two days later, neighbors reported hearing gunshots outside a Henry Street house party at 2 a.m., the DA said. Police sought Towns after witnesses said he had information about the incident. Two detectives and a police officer were canvassing the area for information on the incident later in the day when they approached Towns, officials said. Towns pointed a handgun at them and held it to a female detective’s head, police reported. An officer shot Towns three times during the struggle, the DA said.

Towns fled to a nearby home on Stanley Street and hid the gun in a shed, officials said.

The female detective was treated for a serious back injury and Towns was treated for non life-threatening injuries, the DA said.

“This defendant repeatedly terrorized a community with the threat of gun violence, and then threatened the lives of members of the Nassau County Police Department,” said DA Kathleen Rice in a statement Tuesday. “This sentence should send a strong message that those who attack the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to serve and protect all of us will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Towns pleaded guilty to menacing a police officer, four counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence, second-degree assault, resisting arrest, second-degree reckless endangerment, two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing, and trespass.

Photo: Henry Street, Stanley Street in Inwood. Credit: Google Maps

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