CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A 27-year-old Buffalo man appeared in court for the second time this week.
Dino Bruscia was arraigned Friday morning on misdemeanor charges. He’s accused of inciting a riot with a Facebook event, allegedly created by him, inviting people to loot the Galleria Mall May 31st.
It was after another night of protests in the City of Buffalo’s Niagara Square.
Bruscia said after court he would not confirm or deny that he created the page, but thinks his high profile on social media is drawing a lot of attention to him.
“I do have multiple fake accounts that troll and have posted and made fake social media websites about me because of my high social standings,” he said.
He appeared Monday to be arraigned on felony charges after he was accused of arson.
“The accusation is that he used a flare gun to shoot into an individual’s home and it caused damage to the living room area of the home, and that, to me, is a violent act,” said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.
Flynn has expressed frustration over the lack of discretion given to judges to place bail on defendants who are accused repeat offenders.
“I’m not gonna scream bloody murder about the bail reform when it comes to misdemeanors alright, “he said. “[But], with arson, I have concerns that the bail reform went too far and this individual is now out of jail.”
Robin Wolfgang is running for the 146th Assembly seat out of Amherst. She said this case illustrates some serious cracks in bail reform.
“Bail reform needs to be repealed and start over. There are so many things in it that have problems and that make our Amherst district so much less safe.”
Wolfgang plans to push for judges to have more discretion in certain cases.
“Judges need to be able to look at what was the crime, does the person have a previous record, what is the likelihood this person will reoffend, do another crime? And lastly, what will it take for this person too reappear,” she said.
Bruscia is due back in court September 22 on his misdemeanor charge and August 24th for the felony.
