HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A man was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison for a 2018 shooting on Long Island that left the victim a quadriplegic, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced.
Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez, 36, was convicted on May 17 of attempted murder and assault.
He was also sentenced to five years' post-release supervision.
Spielfogel-Lopez was acquitted of gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Just before 3 a.m. on November 4, 2018, the victim was in the front passenger seat of his friend's Jeep Cherokee parked at a Goodyear Tires location at 101 N. Franklin Street in Hempstead after he and his friends had just returned to their parked car from El Pacifico bar around the corner from the Goodyear location, DA Donnelly said.
While the victim was seated in the Jeep, Spielfogel-Lopez pulled up in a Dodge Durango and stopped directly in front of the vehicle, preventing it from leaving the parking space.
Spielfogel-Lopez then got out of the car, opened the victim's car door, and placed a firearm to the victim's right ear. He then demanded "the stuff" from the victim, and just seconds later, fired the weapon once, striking the victim in his right ear.
Spielfogel-Lopez then got back into his vehicle and drove away.
The victim was taken to Mercy Hospital by his friends after the shooting, where it was determined that the gunshot wound caused a severance of his spinal cord, causing him to become quadriplegic.
Authorities said Spielfogel-Lopez believed that the victim stole items from his car several days before the shooting.
Spielfogel-Lopez fled the county immediately following the shooting and was arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts, by local authorities on an unrelated charge on November 30, 2018.
Spielfogel-Lopez received a three-year jail sentence and was released from a Massachusetts prison on November 3, 2021.
He was arrested immediately upon his release by Nassau County detectives.
"Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez pointed a loaded gun at a young man's head and pulled the trigger, severing the victim's spine and confining the victim to a wheelchair for the rest of his life," DA Donnelly said. "The defendant fled the county after the shooting, but thanks to great detective work, he was arrested and brought to justice. I thank the Nassau County Police Department and my prosecutors for holding this dangerous defendant accountable for his actions."
