Thread: Restaurant gunman gets 9-year term

Restaurant gunman gets 9-year term
Phil Helsel, Register Staff
08/22/2007

MILFORD — An illegal immigrant who blamed alcohol use for his opening fire inside a crowded West Haven restaurant last year was sentenced Tuesday to serve nine years in prison.

Enrique Vindel, 35, of 174 Fitch St., New Haven, will almost certainly be deported after he serves his prison time, officials said. Vindel, who is originally from Tocoa, Honduras, but has lived in New Haven for more than a decade, drunkenly unleashed a barrage of gunfire inside the Restaurante Salvadoreño on Campbell Avenue on Oct. 7, injuring two men.

"No man is strong enough against alcohol," Vindel told Superior Court Judge John Ronan through an interpreter.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kevin Russo said Vindel, who had been drinking earlier that day, went to the restaurant to settle a score with someone with whom he had been involved in some sort of dispute, and ended up shooting both that man and an innocent bystander. Vindel fired six rounds.

Vindel’s attorney, Public Defender David Egan, noted Vindel had been drinking before he went to the restaurant. Egan also said that Vindel was taking an over-the-counter medication which "may have influenced his behavior."

Vindel had pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault and faced between seven and 10 years in prison. Both Ronan and Russo noted that Vindel had been called a hard-working, dependable worker by his employers and had never been in trouble before. But in the end the judge called the shooting too serious to be treated lightly.

"This is as bad as it gets, going into a crowded restaurant and opening fire," Ronan said. "Whatever wrong you felt you had suffered, at least one of these people had nothing to do with it."

It is unclear when, or whether, Vindel will be deported, but Ronan said that he is not a legal citizen and would likely be kicked out of the country either after he completes his sentence, or even before that time.

Another man, Jose Bardales, also of 174 Fitch St., also faces charges connected to the Oct. 7 shooting, although his attorney claims he was only in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bardales claims he and Vindel went there for dinner, and that he had no idea what his companion planned to do.

But Russo said that Bardales, 53, drove Vindel to the restaurant that night and waited while Vindel committed his crime.

Bardales has pleaded innocent to two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault and one count of conspiracy to criminally use a weapon, and his case is pending.

He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Russo, who also is prosecuting Bardales’ case, said an offer to settle the charges against him has been made, but would not say how much jail time it might entail.

"Each one had different levels of culpability," Russo said. "Mr. Bardales’ was nowhere near as se as the shooter’s, and he’ll be treated accordingly."

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Alcohol and third world culture creates mindless behavior!

A human life just isn't worth what it used to be!
Yea, they'll deport him and he'll be back. This sickens me.