park hill man charged with weapons possesion

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A repeat felon’s latest tussle with the law — he allegedly tossed a gun out of an apartment building window while fighting with a police officer — could land him in jail for life.

Raheem Bert, 25, was arrested Thursday about 9:30 p.m. inside 55 Holland Ave., Mariners Harbor, court papers stated.

According to those documents, officers were investigating a complaint of a trespasser on the 10th floor.

Officers saw Bert had a gun, and the suspect began struggling with them as they tried to arrest him. Bert tossed the loaded and defaced .25-caliber handgun out a window, court papers said.

Cops recovered a magazine with bullets that had been dislodged from the gun during the fight. They also found the weapon on the ground beneath the window from which it was chucked, prosecutors said.

Bert allegedly gave cops a phony name, Raheem Linwood. The suspect, who lives on Bowen Street, Clifton, has also gone by the names of Rasheem Bert and Raheen Bert.

He was charged with two felony counts of weapon possession and one of evidence tampering, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. He’s also accused of a misdemeanor count of false personation.

Bert could face up to life in prison if found guilty of the felony charges and deemed a persistent felon, according to prosecutors.

Advance records show that Bert was sentenced in 2008 to two to four years for his role in the February 2007 slaying of Carlos Ebanks in Stapleton. Prosecutors said Bert supplied the murder weapon to the killer and acted as lookout. He pleaded guilty to criminal weapon possession.

He also has unrelated felony convictions for drugs and witness tampering, prosecutors said.