The man accused of shooting at a man in front of Modern Pastry earlier this month is being held without bail until a judge makes a decision on his detention, which he promised to do by the end of the day today.
Alleged shooter Patrick Mendoza, 54, faces charges including assault to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, intimidating a witness, and three charges related to unlawful possession of a gun.
Police arrested Mendoza on July 21 — nine days after he allegedly fired three shots in front of Hanover Street’s Modern Pastry at a man he had a long-simmering relationship with. That history includes Mendoza previously striking the man on his head with a glass bottle in February 2019, for which he received six months probation.
While Mendoza was able to hide away in the detention room next to for his arraignment on Friday, he appeared Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court wearing a lightly checkered gray suit — extensive hand tattoos visible, which includes the city of Boston seal on his palm — and sat down next to his attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio.
Scapicchio unleashed her trademark fiery defense right away with an objection to receiving prior court case documents, which the prosecution will bring up, shortly before the detention hearing.
“Just so we’re clear, it’s not my job to produce the evidence the commonwealth is going to use,” she said. “It’s completely unfair that Mendoza has to defend himself against something I wasn’t made aware of until five minutes ago.”
Judge Paul Treseler said that the case was public record, but he would note her objection.
Assistant District Attorney Daniel Nucci presented video depicting the scene of the alleged crime, which shows a man “who the Commonwealth alleges is Mr. Mendoza” on a bicycle firing a gun as many as three times toward another man who dove behind a Jeep. The evidence of the shooting remained for at least a day as “ballistic evidence”: a bullet hole in Modern Pastry’s front window.
Scapicchio objected to Nucci suggesting the shooter was her client, and said that the video shouldn’t be made for identification.
Nucci also presented a police interview with the alleged victim, who described “running for his life” following the incident.
“He rides down on his bicycle and starts swearing at me, calling me ‘(Expletive)face,’ he says of Mendoza. “He gets off his bike, drops his bike in the street, and goes down to his waist. I thought he was going to pull a knife on me … but he pulls a gun instead.”
He also describes Mendoza as “harassing me for the whole time while he’s on probation,” a claim backed by police reports reviewed by the Herald.
Scapicchio said that Mendoza has lived and worked in the North End for 28 years, that he is the sole support for his wife and children and that the gallery was full of family and friends who would be willing to take him in if the judge decides he doesn’t want to release him to his family.
— This is a developing story.