On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, federal prosecutors said Brooklyn correctional officer Leon Wilson used the authority of his badge not to protect the public, but to chase down a car leaving the Metropolitan Detention Center and fire into it on a city street, wounding a passenger. In a public statement shared on X, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. called the pursuit “dangerous and unjustified.”
“Leon Wilson used the authority entrusted to him as a federal correctional officer not to protect the public, but to engage in a dangerous and unjustified pursuit that culminated in gunfire on the streets of Brooklyn,” said United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
What prosecutors say
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the incident started on Sept. 4, 2023, when a BMW pulled into the MDC–Brooklyn staff parking lot and then suddenly sped off. Prosecutors say Wilson left federal property and followed, turning the encounter into a roughly mile-long chase through Brooklyn, running red lights as he went.
About a mile into that pursuit, they say, Wilson fired multiple rounds at the fleeing BMW. One bullet struck a passenger seated in the back of the car.
Conviction and trial record
A jury on Oct. 28, 2025, found Wilson guilty of depriving that passenger of rights under color of law and of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General reported. In a trial summary, the Office of Inspector General said the evidence showed Wilson fired several rounds into the rear of the BMW and then failed to report that he had discharged his weapon while on duty.
Court findings
District court filings lay out a detailed picture of Wilson’s movements that day. The court wrote that while on duty, Wilson left his assigned post, was seen on surveillance video off site, returned, and then set off after the BMW through city streets. During that chase, according to the filings, he fired into the car and continued the pursuit afterward.
The judge also permitted testimony about prior on-duty incidents and a false incident report, evidence prosecutors used to argue that Wilson’s actions were willful rather than a mistaken or justified response.
Local context
The case is unfolding against the backdrop of broader scrutiny of conditions at MDC Brooklyn, where prosecutors and news reports have pointed to a pattern of inmate stabbings, assaults and staff misconduct that has drawn federal oversight and investigative attention. The Associated Press has reported on multiple criminal charges tied to the facility and on Justice Department efforts to address safety and staffing problems there.
Legal implications
Wilson was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 242 for deprivation of rights under color of law and under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) for using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Under the federal firearms statute, a conviction for discharging a gun during a crime of violence carries a substantial mandatory minimum sentence, including a 10-year floor when the weapon is discharged, according to the Legal Information Institute publication of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
Where the case stands
Court records reflect a series of post-trial filings and rulings in the federal docket, and public statements from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on June 30 reiterated prosecutors’ view of Wilson’s conduct. The X post and official filings cited in that announcement do not list a new sentencing date. Future entries on the court’s docket will determine if and when a judge schedules sentencing and whether any appeals follow.
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