Crime & Safety

Queens Man Convicted in 2006 Shooting Spree

Defendant Could Face 25 Years to Life in Prison for Killing Long Island Man in Bayside, Wounding Several Others.

A 38-year-old Woodhaven man has been convicted in a violent 2006 shooting spree in Queens that left a Long Island man dead and wounded several others, the Queens district attorney said.

Matthew Coletta, of 85-26 98th St. in Woodhaven, was convicted Tuesday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Aloise on charges of second-degree murder, 13 counts of attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

The jury found Coletta guilty following a four-week trial, the DA said. He now faces 25 years to life in prison.

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"The defendant carved a bloody swath across Queens County during a violent six-hour shooting rampage in which he drove around randomly, firing at individuals standing on the sidewalk or traveling in vehicles," Brown said. "The defendant's actions have forever changed the lives of those with whom he cross paths during his deadly shooting spree."

Coletta will return to court on Dec. 16 for sentencing.

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The defendant, who was an unemployed bricklayer at the time of the shootings, drove a green Cadillac around the streets of Queens on Aug. 25, 2006. He was armed with a 9-mm. Ruger semiautomatic pistol, which he fired at a total 14 people, one of whom was an off-duty police lieutenant, the DA said.

He shot several times at a red Toyota minivan on the Cross Island Parkway near Bell Boulevard in Bayside, killing Long Island's Todd Upton, 51, who was riding in the front passenger seat, Brown said.

The victim's wife, Mary Upton, 49, and daughter, Erin, 19, were also in the car, but neither of them were injured, the DA said.

The defendant also fired at a 46-year-old Maspeth man walking his dog at the intersection of 59thPlace and 56th Drive, striking him in the knee as well as at a black livery cab along 48th Avenue in Long Island City.

He also shot at a 22-year-old Hempstead man and a friend who were standing outside a Chinese restaurant on 114th Street at Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, striking one of the men in the leg.

Around 10:20 p.m., Coletta fired at a 22-year-old man and his 25-year-old sister near Forest Park, missing both of them. He also took aim at a red minivan on the Whitestone Expressway, but did not hit either of its passengers, as well as at a 39-year-old man existing the Van Wyck Expressway into College Point.

He fired at several other people during the course of his spree, including Detective Dominick Sartori, of the 109th Precinct.


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