Police

Prosecutors: Man suspected in Riverhead shooting confessed to Southold gang attack

Albino Dejesus Medina is led out of Southold Town Court during his initial arraignment on Nov. 14. He has since been indicted in Suffolk County court. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
Albino Dejesus Medina is led out of Southold Town Court during his initial arraignment on Nov. 14. He has since been indicted in Suffolk County court. (Credit: Carrie Miller)

A Bay Shore man being investigated as both a potential shooter in an October attack in Riverhead and as the fifth suspect in a separate gang-related shooting in Southold last month gave investigators two written confessions to the Southold shooting after he was apprehended, a Suffolk County prosecutor said during the man’s arraignment Wednesday. 

Albino Dejesus Medina, 20, was charged with three felony counts of gang assault, and six felony counts of assault for his alleged role in the Southold attack on Oct. 14, which left one victim with a bullet in his back and slash wounds to his face from a machete.

If convicted of the top charge, the El Salvadorian native faces 5 to 25 years in prison.

Mr. Medina was caught “hiding” in Bay Shore last Wednesday, according to assistant district attorney Ryan Hunter and local police.

“He had evaded the police the day of the crime,” Mr. Hunter said.

He was apprehended with the help of the U.S. Marshals, the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Riverhead police, according to the Southold Town police.

Mr. Medina is accused of using a .22-caliber revolver to attack two men as they walked along South Harbor Road in Southold the night of Oct. 14. Mr. Hunter said both victims have since been released from the hospital.

Mr. Hunter added that investigators have linked the bullets recovered from the Oct. 14 shooting to a Riverhead shooting on Oct. 10, in which Mr. Medina and another unidentified man shot a teenager in the back.

As of Wednesday, Mr. Medina had not yet been indicted in that shooting.

Riverhead Town police Sgt. Sean Egan said that shooting may also be “gang-affiliated,” though he declined to comment on the case further due to an ongoing investigation.

During the arraignment, Mr. Hunter said Mr. Medina gave two written confessions to officers after he was caught, admitting to using the revolver to shoot one of the victims — as well as a codefendant by accident. Mr. Medina’s attorney, Del Atwell of East Hampton, said at court that he had read the statement made by his client.

“There are a lot of codefendants here,” Mr. Atwell told Justice William Condon. “It appears a lot of these statements implicate each other, which is common in these cases.”

Mr. Medina was held on $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond. He is due back in court on January.

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