Trial for Huntington Station Man Accused of Shooting Officer Begins Next Week

The trial of a 23-year-old Huntington Station man accused of shooting a plainclothes police officer and causing him serious injures in March last year will begin his trial next week.

Sheldon Leftenant, an alleged street gang member, was charged with attempted aggravated murder of a police officer, second degree criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

Opening statements are scheduled for Tuesday in Riverhead.

On March 12, 2015, Officer Mark Collins, a decorated 13-year veteran, was in an unmarked police vehicle when he pulled over a car with four people inside. As Collins and two other officers approached the vehicle, a man inside the car got out and confronted Collins, shooting him twice, once in the neck and once in the hip, police said.

Leftenant was arrested a few hours later, about a block from the traffic stop, following a massive police search.

Collins, 35, was in a drug-induced coma at the hospital and was released after a three-day hospitalization. He has since returned to work.

Image via SCPD