Malta Man Facing Multiple Charges Following Shotgun Incident in Saratoga Springs
Police cruiser on Lake Avenue on Feb. 7, 2025. Photo: SSPD.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 76-year-old Malta man was taken into custody Feb. 7, suspected of firing “several rounds from a shotgun” that resulted in the battered chassis of a city police cruiser resting outside of the Lake Avenue stationhouse, as well as a vehicle struck by gunfire on nearby Division Street.
Police said the incident began at 6:55 pm Friday, Feb. 7 when dispatchers received a call about a man believed to be firing a gun on Division Street, just west of Broadway. Almost an hour later, at 7:43 p.m., the sergeant assigned to Lake Avenue police headquarters heard a gunshot at the station, looked outside, and observed a man pointing a long gun at the building.
Officers inside the station promptly exited the building and pointed their guns at the alleged shooter who “at this point had entered a vehicle and was driving away,” according to police. The suspect fled down Route 9 with officers in their vehicles in pursuit, eventually pulling into the parking lot at the Market 32 in Malta and taken into police custody.
No officers or members of the public were injured and none of the officers fired their weapons, police said.
Following their questioning of the man, identified as 76-year-old Paul Trinci of Malta, authorities said: “indications during interviewing the suspect allude to his desire to create a deadly force engagement with the police.”
Trinci’s statements, documented as “spontaneous utterances” according to court documents, admitted to “drinking a lot,” and confirmed police reports of his desire to create a deadly force engagement with them.
Trinci was arraigned in Saratoga Springs City Court and remanded to the custody of the County Sheriff without bail, according to a police statement. No future court date was announced.
Trinci was charged with six felonies – attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal use of a firearm, reckless endangerment and two counts criminal mischief; numerous misdemeanors including: DWI, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, criminal possession of a weapon and unlawful fleeing a police officer, as well as various traffic infractions.