Man sentenced for pointing gun at officer MIDDLETOWN - A township resident was sentenced to 18 months in prison for pointing a handgun at a police officer almost a year ago. Kevin McKenna, 35, pleaded guilty in October to a charge of aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, a fourth-degree crime. The charge stems from a Feb. 10, 2006 incident in which a Middletown police officer responded to an apartment at the McGuires Grove complex to investigate a noise complaint. The officer heard what he thought was the movement of a slide to a semi-automatic handgun. After backing down the stairs, the officer was reportedly confronted by McKenna, who threw the apartment door open and pointed a .40-caliber handgun at the officer's head. After repeated commands from the officer to drop his weapon, the defendant finally complied. It was later determined that McKenna was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Superior Court Judge Bette Uhrmacher's sentence requires that McKenna serve the full 18 months before being released from prison, which is mandatory under state law because the defendant used a firearm during the crime. "Kevin McKenna's egregious act of pointing a loaded gun at an armed police officer placed his own life at risk and endangered the safety of the community," Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said in a press release. "This sentence of incarceration seeks to deter Mr. McKenna and others from violence against law enforcement officers." - Dan Newman