Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III announced that 24 year-old Orlando Oquendo-Torres, aka “Pikachu” of Beatrice Street in the City of Buffalo pleaded guilty as charged to one count of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, and three counts of Intimidating a Victim or Witness in the Third Degree before Erie County Court Judge Michael Pietruszka.  These are the highest charges for which Oquendo-Torres could have been convicted had he gone to trial.  In other words, he did not receive a so-called “plea bargain” and was instead prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The crimes arise from the defendant stabbing his uncle in the abdomen, firing a pistol at an unoccupied vehicle belonging to his cousin, firing a pistol at a second vehicle occupied by the family of another cousin, and finally, threatening to kill the stabbing victim and two witnesses during his arraignment in Buffalo City Court.   

The stabbing took place on the evening of July 9, 2014 at the intersection of Hudson and Seventh Streets in the City of Buffalo, and arose from a dispute which began between the defendant’s girlfriend and step-mother. Defendant arrived at the scene during the dispute and when his uncle attempted to intervene, the defendant promptly stabbed his uncle with a knife.

Six days later, on July 15, 2014, the defendant continued to terrorize his family members by firing two bullets into the side of his cousin’s 2007 Chevy Tahoe as it was parked in front of his home on California Street in the City of Buffalo. Just minutes after firing bullets into the Tahoe, the defendant fired at least one more bullet at a vehicle occupied by the defendant’s cousin, his cousin’s wife, and their three children as it was traveling on Ontario Street in the City of Buffalo.

Finally, during the morning of August 4, 2014, when the defendant appeared in Buffalo City Court for a Felony Hearing, the defendant threatened to kill the stabbing victim and two witnesses to the stabbing and called all of them “snitches.”  

Oquendo-Torres faces a maximum of 34 years in state prison when he is sentenced on April 6, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. by Judge Pietruszka. 

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jeremy V. Murray, who is assigned to DA Sedta’s Felony Trial Bureau.