Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez of Elmont sentenced to 25 years for shooting that left victim paralyzed, Nassau DA says

An Elmont man accused of a 2018 shooting in Hempstead that left his victim paralyzed from the neck down was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. 

Carlos Spielfogel-Lopez, 36, was convicted of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault on May 17. He was acquitted of first-degree gang assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced on Wednesday by Nassau County Judge Terence Murphy. 

Donnelly said Spielfogel-Lopez stuck a gun in the victim’s right ear on Nov. 4, 2018, because he believed the man had stolen something from his car a few days earlier. 

“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,” Donnelly said. 

Spielfogel-Lopez’s attorney, Jeffrey Groder of Mineola, said his client continues to maintain his innocence and will appeal the jury’s verdict. 

Donnelly said the victim was in the front seat of a friend’s Jeep Cherokee parked at a Goodyear Tires store on North Franklin Street in Hempstead at 2:57 a.m. when he was confronted by Spielfogel-Lopez. The victim and his friends had just returned to the car after spending time at the nearby El Pacifico bar. 

A Dodge Durango driven by Spielfogel-Lopez stopped directly in front of the Cherokee, preventing it from leaving the parking space. Spielfogel-Lopez 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, Donnelly said. The victim was taken to Mercy Hospital by his friends after the shooting, where it was determined that the gunshot severed his spinal cord, causing the victim to become quadriplegic.

Spielfogel-Lopez fled the county immediately following the shooting and was later arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts by local authorities on another, unrelated charge on Nov. 30, 2018, prosecutors said.

Spielfogel-Lopez received a 3-year jail sentence and was released from a Massachusetts prison on Nov. 3, 2021. He was arrested immediately upon his release by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department’s Third Precinct Squad.