A Latin King ex-con who faces life in prison for allegedly shooting at a Brooklyn cop during a bar fight was freed without bail this week because prosecutors failed to start his trial fast enough, court documents show.
Pablo Negron, 24 — who has two past convictions for violently attacking cops — walked away from Rikers after two years Tuesday when a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge ruled that prosecutors had exceeded the time limit to bring their attempted-murder case against him.
He will now be free to roam the streets until at least the start of his trial Sept. 23.
“The DA dropped the ball,” a court source said. “The judge was not happy to do it. She wanted him in.”
In July 2011, Negron first allegedly punched off-duty cop Jason Reynolds, who had been drinking at the same Kensington bar.
Negron then charged Reynolds’ off-duty NYPD partner, Albert Lloyd, pushing him down and knocking the gun from his holster, prosecutors say.
Negron picked up the gun and fired nine times at the fleeing Lloyd — stopping only when Reynolds shot him in the back and butt, according to prosecutors.
Negron’s lawyer, Paul Hirsch, yesterday insisted to The Post, “My client was afraid and acted in self-defense during what he thought was a threat from a regular person, certainly not a police officer.”
Negron was held without bail after the incident.
But state law says a defendant must be released if prosecutors are not ready for trial within 90 days.
And while DA Charles Hynes’ prosecutors were legally able to extend his jail time as they prepared for trial, the judge finally ruled that they had run up 129 days of “unexcused’’ delay.
“Because the people have not been ready for trial within 90 days from the commencement of his commitment to custody, the defendant’s motion for release . . . is granted,” Judge Ann Donnelly ruled.
Prosecutors and Hirsch have disagreed over how many days should be included in the total number since Negron’s arraignment.
“While we have high regard for Judge Donnelly, we respectfully disagree with her time calculations,” said Hynes spokesman Jerry Schmetterer.
The PBA blasted the decision.
“A potential killer, let alone a potential cop killer, should never be released from custody on a technicality, particularly when a judge has some leeway in calculating speedy trial days,” said PBA President Pat Lynch. “There is no reasonable excuse for releasing this violent thug.”
Negron has a history of attacking cops.
He was sentenced to a year in jail after he accosted a officer on a Boerum Hill street in 2008. He also got into a scuffle with cops after threatening a bouncer at a Manhattan club in 2005, and was imprisoned for smashing a cop’s head into the pavement during the Puerto Rican Day Parade that same year.