A Coney Island amusement park worker who shot his colleague in the chest over an ongoing beef about game booth profits was sentenced to 13 years in prison Wednesday for attempted murder, prosecutors said.
Joseph Colon, 38, laid in wait for his rival on the night of Sept. 10, 2021, taking a “tactical position” behind Luna Park’s Jumbo Prizes game booth – and blasting the victim in the chest when he arrived for his shift at around 8 p.m., according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
Colon then briefly chased the wounded man before duking down a street and tossing his camouflage hoodie in a garbage can at Nathan’s Famous.
His 38-year-old victim collapsed and was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he was treated for a broken rib, a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver and severe loss of blood, according to authorities.
The two men had been arguing for a week prior to the ambush over customers and profits at the game booth, prosecutors said.
After the shooting, Colon fled to Temple, Pennsylvania, where the US Marshals and NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked him down and brought him back to New York to face charges.
Colon, of Coney Island, was convicted in May on a slew of charges including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree criminal use of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez celebrated the former Luna Park worker’s sentencing.
“This shooting at Coney Island’s Luna Park was an outrageous act of violence that nearly killed a man and put many more people in harm’s way,” he said in a statement.
“Gun crime will not be tolerated in Brooklyn, and today’s sentence ensures that the defendant has been held accountable for his deplorable actions.”
