NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A Queens man who fatally shot an attempted robber this week faces dozens of weapons charges after an arsenal of guns was allegedly found at his Kew Gardens apartment, authorities said Friday.
Charles Foehner, 65, was charged with 26 counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to police.
Queens D.A. Melinda Katz released a short statement Friday on the closely watched case: “My office is charging Charles Foehner with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon. These are the charges factually supported by the evidence.”
Foehner has not been charged with fatally shooting Cody Gonzalez, 32, who allegedly tried to rob Foehner around 2 a.m. Wednesday near the apartment building at 82nd Road and Queens Boulevard where Foehner lives with his wife and rescue dog.
Foehner stood cuffed in Queens Criminal Court on Friday as his wife watched on. The only words he said to Judge Jerry Iannece was that he promised he didn't have a passport and wouldn't try to get one.
The judge set his bail at $50,000 cash or $100,000 bond. His attorney had asked that no bail be set, calling the incident a "total aberration" for the retired doorman and Stage Deli worker.
During Wednesday's mugging, Gonzalez had a sharp object in his hand that Foehner told police he thought was a knife but that reportedly turned out to be a pen. Foehner fired five shots, striking the chest of Gonzalez, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The weapons charges stem from the unlicensed .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver used in the shooting, as well as an arsenal of 25 firearms found in Foehner's home, prosecutors said.
The cache allegedly included rifles, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and an AK-47, as well as more than 150 high-capacity magazines and body armor vests.
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the weapons charges.
At Friday's arraignment, prosecutors revealed that Foehner told police he took the gun out of his pocket and emptied it before going back to his apartment and calling 911. He also told cops he was carrying the gun because of an uptick in crime in the city over the past few years and that the guns were his alone, not his wife's.
He was supposed to be arraigned Thursday, but in a surprising turn, Judge Marty Lentz postponed that proceeding and recused herself from the case because she's the judge who signed off on the search warrant that led to the discovery of the weapons Foehner is now charged with possessing.
Gonzalez suffered from mental illness and had been arrested about a dozen times in the past, including for robbery and burglary. He was reportedly banging on the windows of homes in the area shortly before the robbery.
Members of Gonzalez's family told the Daily News that they don't blame the shooter if it was self-defense.
"We don't fault the shooter," Stephan Gonzalez, 35, told the outlet on Wednesday. "We all feel Cody should have been in a psych facility. If anything, the state failed him."
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