A New York City senior citizen who fatally shot an attacker last week in an obvious case of self-defense now faces over two dozen gun charges and had his bail doubled.
It was Wednesday when 65-year-old Charles Foehner was caught on video being confronted by 32-year-old Cody Gonzalez. The intended victim was walking near his apartment at about 2 a.m. when he was approached and apparently taunted by the younger man.
Gonzalez allegedly demanded money and cigarettes.
According to authorities, the would-be attacker threatened Foehner with a pen in his hand that the older man took to be a knife. Surveillance footage clearly showed Foehner being lunged before he produced a weapon and fired from approximately eight feet away.
Gonzalez collapsed on the street nearby and died. He reportedly had at least 15 arrests going back to 2004 and a history of mental illness.
Charles Foehner should have followed @tiffany_cabanâs advice and spilled soda to ward off his attacker.
đ https://t.co/MVc8PXzKnh https://t.co/tNyXdnytXX— Sam E. Antar (@SamAntar) June 2, 2023
Foehner called authorities and cooperated with law enforcement. He initially turned himself in on Thursday and was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. He was held on $25,000 bail.
That changed on Friday when he was hit with 24 more counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He was not, however, charged in the fatal shooting outside of his apartment building.
His bail was doubled to $50,000.
Judge Jerry Iannece did not sympathize with the senior citizen who was targeted for robbery. âThe defendant was on the street with a loaded, unlicensed gun. There are too many shootings in this city! The court is quite concerned with what we see.â
The increases in charges and bail resulted from the ensuing police search of Foehnerâs apartment. Police said they found roughly two dozen firearms, though he only had licenses for five rifles.
The handgun used in the apparent self-defense Wednesday was not licensed.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Randazzo told reporters that investigators discovered âapproximately 26 firearms, including pistols, shotguns, rifles, an AK-47, two body armor vests, and multiple rounds of ammunition.â
Foehner, a retired doorman, reportedly told investigators that he carried the pistol because of the cityâs skyrocketing crime rate. âI read the crime stats and I see so much crime. I had the pistol. I obtained it in a bar one night.
The would-be mugging victim said heâd owned the pistol since the 1990s, and gun collecting became a hobby. According to the New York Post, Foehner, who is now a deli worker, faces up to 25 years in prison.
