A reckless gunman who shot and wounded a Brooklyn woman’s pet Labradoodle rushed to scene of the shooting, gun in his waistband, because someone was harassing his girlfriend, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Adrian Benitez went right for his gun after his girlfriend, Roxanne, called and summoned him to 31st St. near Fifth Ave. in Greenwood Heights on Aug. 19, Assistant District Attorney Tziyona Langsam said at the 29-year-old’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court early Wednesday morning.
When Benitez arrived at the location around 5:45 p.m., he fired a single shot at the unknown man harassing Roxanne, but his shot went wide, bouncing off a wall, the prosecutor said.
The ricochet round then punched a hole in the shoulder of Honey, a 7-year-old Labradoodle being walked by a 64-year-old woman, Langsam said. Benitez is not licensed to carry a firearm, according to a criminal complaint.
Honey yelped and started limping, and Benitez ran off, prosecutors said. The dog owner’s nephew called 911, and Honey was rushed to an emergency veterinary hospital, where a doctor found out the bullet entered the Labradoodle’s shoulder and exited the armpit, Langsam said.
The pooch survived, but needed surgery to remove .22-caliber bullet fragments.
A cop identified Benitez from video footage, and police arrested him at his home Tuesday, Langsam said.
Benitez is charged with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and aggravated cruelty to animals in the stray-bullet shooting.
Judge Janice Robinson rejected Langsam’s request to jail Benitez on $150,000 bail, after his lawyer pointed out that he has no criminal history, didn’t flee when he learned he was under investigation, and is his infirm mother’s sole caretaker.
Benitez is developmentally disabled, and has myriad health issues, including type 2 diabetes, his lawyer, Abraham Younes of the Legal Aid Society, told the judge.
“I believe that he’s not going anywhere, basically,” Younes said. “If he is released at the highest level of supervision, he’s gonna be taking care of his mom while understanding that if he’s found guilty, he faces serious consequences. But my client wants to return to court. He wants to face this, and he doesn’t want to run, and he has no reason to.”
The judge said she believed Benitez would return to court, and placed him on supervised release. “He’s a lifelong resident of this county,” she said. “He didn’t resist when the police came to arrest him. He didn’t flee, and he has family responsibilities that make it necessary for him to remain in Kings County.”
Benitez’s mother and girlfriend didn’t respond to questions from the Daily News Wednesday.
Benitez declined comment as he left court, only saying, “I cant talk about it. My lawyer says I cant talk about it.”