A police officer’s life was saved yesterday because a Graniteville man got a hand infection.

Dante Martin was hospitalized in Richmond University Medical Center after an earlier arrest on a weapons charge. He was under police guard in his hospital room. It seems that he purposefully urinated his gown and asked the female police officer to use the bathroom.

The officer guarding him handcuffed him to enable him to use the facilities. Martin then puncher her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground and jumped down on top of her trying to take her gun.
According to witnesses, the officer began screaming for help. Her screams were, “Please help me, I have a family! He has my gun”

Rafael Muniz, 42, of Graniteville, New York heard the police officer’s screams from next door. He quickly ran to help the officer.
Muniz was shocked to see Martin on top of the officer attempting to remove the officer’s gun from her holster. Muniz quickly wrapped around his arm around Martin’s and attempted to talk him out of the struggle. He repeated several times to him, “You don’t have to do this, just let it go, bro.” Martin responded, “But my finger’s already o the trigger.” Then, according to Muniz, Martin had a “moment of clarity” and removed his finger from the trigger.

At that point other officers entered the room after the perpetrator had been subdued. Muniz told the officer, “You’re okay, you’re okay. Later he added, “It felt like it went on for minutes but it all happened so fast.”

The police officer was a rookie and is 28 years old.

Graniteville is a neighborhood in Staten Island that houses the Baron Hirsch Cemetery.

Both the NYPD and the hospital provided no additional information or comment. Willians Smith a spokesman for the hospital released the following statement: “This patient was being held in custody in accordance with the NYPD’s procedures for such circumstances. The NYPD is conducting an investigation into this morning’s events and in deference to that investigation, we must decline any additional comment.”

Muniz was in the next room for treatment for a hand infection on his left hand. His heroics are even more significant if one realizes that he ran ito the room while everyone else was trying to run away and that his entire left hand was bandaged from the infection. His infection has healed and he is expected to be released Monday. Martin, however, will not be released for a long time.