Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that an Elmont man was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for a 2018 shooting in Hempstead that left the victim a quadriplegic.
Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez, 36, was convicted after a jury trial on May 17, 2023, of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a B violent felony) and Assault in the First Degree (a B violent felony). He was acquitted of Gang Assault in the First Degree (a B felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony).
The trial began on May 8, 2023, and the jury deliberated for less than a day before delivering their verdict.
The defendant was sentenced today by Judge Terence Murphy to 25 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision.
“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.”
DA Donnelly said that on November 4, 2018, at approximately 2:57 a.m., 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. He and his friends had just returned to their parked car from El Pacifico bar around the corner from the Goodyear location.
While the victim was seated in the vehicle, a Dodge Durango driven by the defendant, Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez, stopped directly in front of the Cherokee, preventing it from leaving the parking space.
The defendant got out of the car, opened the victim’s car door, and placed a firearm to the victim’s right ear. He 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 the victim to become quadriplegic.
Spielfogel-Lopez believed that the victim stole items from his car several days before the shooting.
The defendant fled the county immediately following the shooting. He was arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts, by local authorities on another 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.
The defendant was arrested immediately upon his release by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Third Precinct Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Veronica Guariglia of the Homicide Bureau. The defendant is represented by Jeff Groder, Esq.