Queens Cop Shot After Transsexual Domestic Row

Officer Rodney Lewis and his partner Mark Bublin were responding to a domestic dispute in Ridgewood early Sunday morning when a suspect's handgun accidentally discharged during a scuffle, wounding Lewis under his left arm. According to WABC, it all started around 11 p.m. Saturday during a family party, when Marcello Campana, who identifies herself as a woman named Hazel, got into an argument with her reportedly violent boyfriend Carlos.

At some point during the night, Carlos began beating Hazel in the street, and a call was placed to 911. Carlos took off, and Hazel called her ex-boyfriend, Edwin Santana, for help. But as cops arrived at the scene, they mistook Santana for Carlos because both men are bald. And as they struggled to arrest him, an antique .32-caliber long revolver in his waistband dropped to the street and discharged one round, striking officer Lewis in an area not protected by his bullet proof vest. NY1 reports that Santana, 33, is a convicted felon; he's been charged with assault and weapons possession

Officer Lewis is expected to make a full recovery because the bullet lodged in his skin, but didn't penetrate the chest wall. Carlos, the abusive boyfriend, is still at large, and Hazel tells the Post she's angry at the "rude" police for not listening to her when she tried to explain that Santana wasn't the the one who beat her. Hazel's sister, Stephanie Ortiz, tells WABC, "It was me and [Santana] holding Hazel and Hazel yelling, 'That's not him, you've got the wrong guy.'"