New York ex-con charged for shooting neighbor's guitar over loud music
A Queens man turned down a plea deal on Friday after being accused of breaking into his neighbors' house and registering an unusual noise complaint by firing a bullet into their guitar.
Court documents obtained by DNAinfo.com New York said that 43-year-old Jeffrey Marino kicked in the door of a Rego Park apartment and yelled, "Your music is too loud... I'm going to kill you."
Marino is accused of firing a single round from his .38-caliber pistol into a guitar hanging over the head of one of the residents.
A second roommate was awakened by the noise and was ordered to get on the ground at gunpoint, according to the court documents. Marino allegedly pointed the gun at all three roommates and directed them not to report the crime.
"Give me your identification, I know where you live, if you call the cops I will send people after you," he reportedly said.
Officers responding to the 911 call caught Marino as he was attempting to flee with the gun, a switchblade and the men's IDs.
"He had the gun on him in his pocket," 112th Precinct Capt. Thomas Conforti recently told a community council meeting.
A subsequent search of Marino's apartment, turned up 19 rounds of .38-caliber ammunition and three bags of marijuana.
Defense attorney Brian Pakett said that Marino had rejected a plea deal that would have sentenced him to seven years in prison, noting that the ex-con "was not shooting at anybody” and “nobody was injured.”
Marino was convicted of grand larceny and insurance fraud in 1994. Pakett said he suffered from "many diseases, including Crohn’s disease, he has one kidney, lymphoma, all this type of stuff."
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