A former Coney Island amusement park worker has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for shooting a co-worker in the chest during an ongoing dispute over customers and profits at a game booth. Video surveillance captured the incident, including the defendant disposing of evidence inside Nathan’s Famous before fleeing to Pennsylvania. He was convicted at trial in May.
“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," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "Gun crime will not be tolerated in Brooklyn, and today’s sentence ensures that the defendant has been held accountable for his deplorable actions.”
The defendant has been identified as Joseph Colon, 38, of, Coney Island. He was sentenced today to 13 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision. He was convicted of 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.
According to the evidence, both the defendant and the victim, a 38-year-old man, worked at the Jumbo Prizes game booth at Coney Island’s Luna Park. In the week prior to the shooting, the two men had repeatedly argued over customers and profits.
On Sept. 10, 2021, at approximately 8:00pm, the defendant was working at Jumbo Prizes when the victim arrived for work. The defendant observed that the victim was unarmed, and then took a tactical position behind the booth, drawing an unlicensed handgun and firing a single shot at the victim, who was struck in the chest.
The defendant then exited the booth and briefly pursued the victim before ducking down Bowery Street. The defendant was then seen on surveillance video on Stillwell Avenue removing his camouflage hoodie before walking into Nathan’s Famous where he tossed it in the garbage.
The hoodie was subsequently recovered and tested for DNA that matched the defendant. The defendant then got into a vehicle and was taken to his apartment at 2926 West 25th Street. From there, according to the evidence, the defendant fled to Temple, Pennsylvania, where a relative lived. He was extradited back to New York by the United States Marshals Service.
The victim collapsed near the intersection of Stillwell and Mermaid Avenues. He was taken to NYU Langone Brooklyn where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the chest, a broken rib, a collapsed lung, a lacerated liver, and severe loss of blood.
The victim was hospitalized for approximately a week before being released.
