By Nathan Duke
Two Oakland Gardens roommates have been accused of being accomplices to a Bayside man who was arrested last week for allegedly firing four bullets into the vacant home of a judge in August, the Queens district attorney said.
Robert Reyes, 19, and Christopher Panisse, 21, both of whom live at 222−15 69th Ave. in Oakland Gardens, were arraigned last week on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, Queens DA Richard Brown said.
Reyes, who was held on $10,000 bail, will return to court Nov. 18, while Panisse, held on $100,000 bail, does not yet have a future court date scheduled, the DA said. If convicted, they each face up to 15 years in prison, a DA spokeswoman said.
The duo’s arrest follows the recent arrest of Ezra Barashy, 20, of 224−59 77th Ave. in Bayside, who was arraigned on Halloween on the same charges as the Oakland Gardens men. Barashy’s bail was set at $250,000 and he was ordered to return to court Nov. 13 and surrender his passport, the DA said.
Barashy is alleged to have fired four live rounds from a 9mm pistol into the home of state Court of Claims Judge Fernando Camacho in Oakland Gardens around 4 a.m. Aug. 12, Brown said.
The defendant allegedly then put the gun in a bag filled with bricks and threw it off a Bronx pier into the ocean, the DA said. Police later found the weapon, which had washed up on a Bronx shore, he said. The fired bullets found lodged in the judge’s home matched the gun, Brown said.
Two bullets were lodged into the judge’s 64th Avenue home, while two others struck the side of the house, Brown said. Camacho had been on vacation with his family at the time of the shooting, he said.
Reyes and Panisse were arrested earlier this month in the incident, the DA said.
Reyes told police that Barashy allegedly pulled out the pistol as the three men were driving around and said, “Let’s go get him,” referring to the judge, the DA said. He told officers that Barashy then fired the bullets at the home, Brown said.
The shooting caused an estimated $250 in damage to Camacho’s home, Brown said.
According to published reports, the judge’s house may have been targeted after he broke up a fight in the neighborhood several days prior to the incident.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
