By LARRY McSHANE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK- A gunman on a cocaine-and-alcohol binge killed one man and wounded two others in a series of drive-by shootings across six frightening hours in the city’s Queens section, prompting a massive manhunt that ended when he surrendered peacefully after police stopped his car, authorities said.
Three other people were injured by flying glass, including an off-duty police lieutenant, during the rampage by Matthew Colletta, 34, said police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Hayes.
Colletta was behind the wheel of a green 1992 Cadillac when the shooting began at about 7:20 p.m. Friday, police said. He was arrested early Saturday.
Although police said the choice of victims was apparently random, Colletta’s last five targets were all red automobiles. The slain man was riding with his wife to their Long Island home after dropping their daughter off at college.
Colletta drove across the length of Queens, repeatedly firing a silver 9mm Ruger handgun along the way, police said. There were nine separate shooting incidents, with police saying that Colletta was on a cocaine and alcohol binge before the gunfire started.
Todd Upton, 51, was a passenger in his family’s red Toyota minivan car when he was fatally wounded with a bullet to the neck as his wife drove along the Cross Island Parkway at about 11 p.m. Upton died a short time later at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens.
Colletta was arrested based on a description provided by the injured lieutenant and other witnesses. Before police located the Cadillac and stopped Colletta, a manhunt that included helicopters and police from neighboring Nassau County was launched.
“All the necessary resources were brought to bear to stop the shooter before he could kill again,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a statement.
Colletta was charged with murder, assault, reckless endangerment and weapons possession, said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. He was expected to be arraigned Sunday in Queens Criminal Court. Colletta’s attorney, Todd Greenberg, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Police said a silver 9mm handgun and shell casings were recovered from the Cadillac. Police said the gun was reported stolen in Virginia.
The suspect, who faces 25 years to life if convicted, was arrested last Sunday for assaulting his girlfriend, said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for Brown. Colletta has been living out of his car for the last week, Ryan said.
According to Brown, the shooting spree began when Andrew Leonid, 46, was shot in the right knee while walking his dog. After shooting out the windshield of a livery cab, Colletta then shot Udai Khernarine, 22, in the left leg outside a Chinese restaurant, Brown said.
The Upton slaying was one of four shootings in a 25-minute span, with bullets flying at three other red vehicles. Two passengers in the first incident were injured by flying glass where their vehicle’s window was shot out, Brown said.
The gunfire finally came to end at 1:30 a.m., when off-duty Lt. Arnaldo Alvarado’s red minivan was shot. Alvarado was also injured by flying glass from a shattered window, Brown said. Colletta was arrested about 10 minutes later.
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Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.