Man Shot Gun Into LI Home With Children Inside: DA

Crime & Safety

Man Shot Gun Into LI Home With Children Inside: DA A Brentwood man was indicted after shooting into a home occupied by his girlfriend, her family members, and multiple children, the DA says.

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A Brentwood man was indicted Monday after shooting into a house his girlfriend and her family was in after she told him she did not want to move in together, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney.

The DA said that Joaquin Orantes Franco, 42, of Brentwood, was indicted on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, and other related charges after he shot into a home occupied by his girlfriend and her family members after she told him she did not want to move in with him.

According to the investigation, on Oct. 20, the victim and her two children were visiting her parents at their home in Central Islip. While inside the residence with multiple family members, including children, they heard a loud bang from outside and realized a bullet had been shot through a television, a child's bedroom, and several walls downstairs where children were playing, the DA said. The bullet narrowly missed one of the adults who was watching the television that the bullet went through, the DA said.

Home surveillance footage captured the shooting which showed that the shot came from Orantes Franco's truck which immediately drove away, the DA said.

Police later located both Orantes Franco and an unserialized, 9mm semiautomatic pistol loaded with a high-capacity magazine with a live cartridge jammed in the chamber, the DA said. Suffolk County police searched Orantes Franco's truck and found a live pistol cartridge and one expended cartridge casing, the DA said.

"The allegations in this case represent an egregious act of domestic violence that put innocent lives at risk," Tierney said. "Our office takes acts of domestic violence extremely seriously, particularly those involving firearms and the endangerment of children."

On Monday, Orantes Franco was arraigned before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz and charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony; one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class D felony; one count of first-degree reckless endangerment, a Class D felony; two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class A misdemeanor; and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, the DA said.

Horowitz ordered Orantes Franco held on $100,000 cash, $250,000 bond or $1,000,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case, the DA said. He is due back in court on Dec.19, and faces 15 years in prison if convicted on the top count.

He is being represented by William Keehon who was not available for comment.