40°
Nassau County police charged Dino Tomassetti, a 29-year-old weight trainer from Brooklyn, with two counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting. He was also expected to face weapons counts.
Tomassetti, of East Williamsburg, had been held in the Bergen County lockup since his Christmas afternoon on Route 17 in Mahwah.
He’d apparently been arguing with Vincenza Marsicano-Tomassetti, 64, and Rocco Tomassetti, 65, in their $3.2 million home in Hewlett Harbor on Long Island’s South Shore around 10 o'clock that morning when things went sideways, police said.
Tomassetti tried to leave with the child, who was there with his mother, but his parents objected, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said during a news conference.
He then “produced a .22-caliber pistol,” shot his mother in the head and his father in the back and wrist in front of the boy and his mother, Ryder said.
After running out of bullets, Tomassetti pistol-whipped his father before fleeing, the commissioner said.
Tomassetti – who reportedly isn’t licensed to own the gun – took off in a 2017 white Cadillac Escalade that law enforcement sources told Daily Voice was tracked by GPS.
Daily Voice broke the news of Dino Tomassetti's arrest later that afternoon (SEE: Long Island Man Who Shot Parents On Christmas Day Captured In Mahwah, Sources Say).
Shortly after 2 p.m., New York State Police troopers requested assistance from Mahwah police as they followed the vehicle from the New York Thruway to southbound Route 17.
Police shut down the highway and the vehicle stopped near Ramapo Valley Road. The 5-foot-9-inch, 235-pound Tomassetti -- who's recently benched more than 550 pounds and dead-lifted 725 -- was taken into custody without incident, law enforcement sources told Daily Voice.
Charged locally with being a fugitive from justice, Tomassetti remained held on a detainer before he waived extradition and a judge granted his release to Nassau County detectives.
He wore a COVID mask and a black hooded sweatshirt from the Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym in Syosset – where he’d worked – as he was led in handcuffs from the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack through a gauntlet of reporters and photographers Wednesday morning.
Dino Tomassetti's late grandfather -- for whom he was named -- was an Italian immigrant whose construction company helped form the Manhattan skyline. His projects included Goldman Sachs's headquarters near Ground Zero and the Bank of America headquarters. Federal authorities also linked him to organized crime.
Rocco Tomassetti operated Empire Transit Mix, which provided the concrete for the Freedom Tower, among other projects.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Bergenfield and receive free news updates.
