8.8.2000
Accused gunman held in Boston for probation offense
Rhode Island authorities have requested extradition for David Fontanez, who surrendered in Massachusetts after a shooting at a Puerto Rican street fair in Providence.

By KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer

A Massachusetts man wanted for shooting four people during a Puerto Rican street fair in Providence on Sunday afternoon, was arraigned in Roxbury District Court yesterday, after surrendering himself and a gun to Boston police Sunday night.

David Fontanez, 38, of Roslindale, pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, and being a fugitive from justice, according to a spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Judge Milton Wright Jr. ordered Fontanez held on $50,000 cash bail at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston until his next court appearance, a pretrial hearing on Aug. 23, said Dave Falcone, spokesman for the district attorney.

Although Rhode Island authorities have moved to extradite Fontanez to face charges here, he is being held in Massachusetts as a probation violator on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, Falcone said.

Providence police issued a warrant for Fontanez Sunday night.

The warrant charges him with four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon after he allegedly shot his girlfriend's former husband, Luis Colon, 39, and three bystanders during the South Providence street fair at 4:30 Sunday afternoon.

The police said Fontanez fired his .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver several times at Colon, initially missing him but wounding three bystanders. Fontanez then chased Colon and shot him in the chest, before fleeing on foot through panicked crowds, according to the police. The incident was captured on film by Journal photographer Rachel Ritchie.

The shooting left Colon in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital yesterday. Maria Dellacruz, 44, of 100 Broad St., Apt. 223, was listed in satisfactory condition. Idis Ramon, 49, of 343 Plainfield St., and Eugenio Del Castillo, 13, of 121 Putnam St., were treated and released from the hospital on Sunday, said hospital spokeswoman Linda Shelton.

Because Fontanez had "an open matter" in Roxbury -- a six-month suspended sentence for assault with a dangerous weapon in a domestic violence case involving a girlfriend -- he is being held as a probation violator, said Falcone, of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

"He has to clear up the case here first," Falcone said. Whether Fontanez will be extradited to Providence "may or may not happen at the next court hearing here."

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island attorney general's office has signed an order for Fontanez's extradition, according to Jim Martin, spokesman for Atty. Gen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

"Clearly, we want to extradite him; however, Massachusetts has a hold on him as a violator," Martin said. "We'll be moving to extradite him back to Rhode Island to face these charges at the appropriate time. We would like him brought back quickly, but we also understand there are matters that need to be dealt with in the Massachusetts court system first."

DETAILS OF Fontanez's surrender to Boston police Sunday night were released yesterday by Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and confirmed by Falcone.

According to Cianci, Fontanez arrived at Boston Police Station District B at 11:30 p.m., in the company of a girlfriend, Lucy Vega, and a man named Martin Rodriguez.

Rodriguez "explained that Fontanez didn't speak English, but wanted to turn himself in for the events in Providence," Cianci said.

Rodriguez also handed the police a plastic bag with a gun in it, and said it was the gun used in the Providence shootings, according to Cianci.

Based on an interview that followed, Cianci said, Fontanez, of 5645 Park Ave., Roslindale, was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, and, based on the outstanding warrant in Providence, being a fugitive from justice.

THE SHOOTING, which took place a day after the city's 16th murder, disrupted a gathering of 2,500 revelers who crowded onto Borinquen and Culver Streets and into nearby parking lots belonging to Rhode Island Hospital.

Featuring Puerto Rican food, dancing and Latin music, the festival was dedicated to the memory of the late Puerto Rican bandleader, Tito Puente, who died earlier this year.

According to the Providence Bureau of Licenses, the "Fiesta Patronales Puerto Riguna of Rhode Island" had the requisite permits to hold its festival on Borinquen Street on Sunday.

Those included a beer and wine license (Class F), a Sunday sales license, a food license, an entertainment license, and a "verbal OK" from the city clerk for a street closure that was noted on the entertainment license.

"They were fully permitted," said Richard Aitchison, license administrator. The licenses were granted after a hearing on Aug. 2, he said.

The police on Sunday said they had not known about the festival prior to the shooting. The festival's president, Osvaldo Castillo, said he had contacted the police but could not afford a security detail.

According to Aitchison and Raymond Dettore Jr., chairman of the Board of Licenses, there was no mandate for a police security detail at that event.

"The record shows there was none," said Aitchison, who spent part of yesterday morning researching the license-application process for the Puerto Rican street festival.

Dettore said that was "probably because of their past performance -- there's never been a problem before" in the three years the festival has been held.

Decisions as to whether a police detail is required are generally made on a case-by-case basis by considering such factors as size and nature of the event and whether or not it has a track record, Dettore said.

Back to: RI News	Printer-Friendly Version
Read/Post to our Bulletin Board on this topic