BARNEGAT−A local criminal defense attorney and former assistant Ocean County prosecutor has drawn charges of aggravated assault with a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon after a dispute over his neighbors’ dogs.
Louis A. Pintaro was arrested at his West Bay Avenue home on Aug. 24 following the encounter that Saturday afternoon. He is accused of drawing a .22-caliber Walther handgun from his waistband and pointing it at his neighbors’ dogs as they approached his property, then at one of the dogs’ owners.
In a statement from his attorney, Pintaro “vehemently denies ” that he pointed the gun at his neighbor and was simply defending himself and his 15-year-old dog from an attack on his property.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Kathleen Barton and Karl Preston were outside their home on Memorial Drive with the dogs when Pintaro, who lives behind them, came out with his dog. Barton and Preston told police that their dogs, who are trained to protect them, ran toward Pintaro’s yard but stayed on their property.
One is a service dog, police said.
Pintaro told police he pulled out the handgun because he was “fearful for his elderly dog,” according to the affidavit.
More:Barnegat man admits to shooting in Atlantic City, hiding gun in 2022
Preston told police Pintaro pointed the gun at the dogs and then at him. Barton also said she witnessed Pintaro point the gun at both the dogs and Preston.
Pintaro admitted to police that he pulled out the pistol but said he pointed it only at his neighbors’ dogs and not at his neighbor, according to the affidavit.
Pintaro was taken to Ocean County Jail and was released two days later, according to the jail.
His attorney, Mitchell J. Ansell of Ocean Township, released a statement Wednesday night, saying that Pintaro was in his backyard with his dog on a leash “with his legally owned, small-caliber handgun, which was lawfully possessed on his private property.”
Ansell added, “We are confident that once all the facts are brought before a judge/jury he will be vindicated and his good name will be restored.”
Pintaro is listed as an attorney for the law offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, which he joined in 2021, according to the firm’s website.
He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1993. He then served as an assistant Ocean County prosecutor until 2003, Ansell said.
He handled jury trials and cases at Superior Court in Toms River involving sex offenses, weapons, drug charges, domestic violence, robbery, eluding, aggravated assault among other crimes, according to his law firm’s website.
The weapons charge he faces carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
