The bodybuilder accused of shooting his parents at their sprawling Long Island mansion attacked the couple during a custody dispute over his 1-year-old son, police said Wednesday.
Dino Tomassetti, 29, is being held without bail on two counts of attempted murder stemming from a “verbal dispute” that escalated with the Christmas Day violence, according to cops and court papers.
The hulking gym rat was hauled back to Nassau County after being nabbed in New Jersey — just hours after allegedly fleeing the scene of the shootings.
At a press conference Wednesday, police said Tomassetti had started arguing with his parents — Vincenza Marsicano-Tomassetti, 64, and Rocco Tomassetti, 65 — at their $3.2 million home in Hewlett Harbor at about 10 a.m. Saturday.
But the familial spat took a near-deadly turn when Tomassetti allegedly tried to leave the home with the child.
“When the parents objected, the defendant produced a .22-caliber pistol,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.
Tomassetti allegedly shot his mom in the head and fired at his dad, hitting him in the back and wrist.
“He struck his father then in the head with the gun numerous times after he ran out of bullets,” Ryder said.
Ryder said Tomassetti wasn’t licensed in Nassau County to own the pistol — and he had no prior arrests.
The baby and the child’s mother were in the room at the time, cops said.
Tomassetti fled the home in his 2017 white Cadillac Escalade, but cops used GPS data to track him down a short time later in Mahwah, New Jersey.
The personal trainer was held in Bergen County after being taken into custody on a fugitive-from-justice warrant out of Nassau County. He waived extradition on Monday and was sent back to Long Island.
Dressed in a black hoodie and blue face mask, Tomassetti kept his head down and refused to answer reporters’ questions as cops led him from the Nassau County Police Department to a car ahead of his arraignment.
His parents underwent surgery for their injuries and were released from the hospital earlier this week, officials said.
In court, Nassau County Judge Lisa Petrocelli issued orders of protection for Tomassetti’s parents, his infant son and his son’s mother.
Defense lawyer Marco Laracca argued against the order pertaining to the woman and the boy, saying neither was ever threatened.
“I understand the concerns that arise from allegations that the mother of the child were present,” Laracca said. “Neither of them are victims. Neither of them, from what I’ve heard, were threatened.”
The judge disagreed.
“I appreciate your argument, counsel,” Petrocelli said. “But I believe, based on what’s been described on the record and what I’ve read, that both of those individuals were within what I would classify as an extreme zone of danger.”
Assistant District Attorney Tracy Keeton noted that Tomassetti “bashed his father over and over the face with the gun” when he ran out of bullets. She said the alleged gunman was 6 to 15 feet away from his mother when he opened fire.
“This all occurred in front of his son and the son’s mother,” Keeton added.
Tomassetti is due back in court on Jan. 5.
Two women identified by Tomassetti as “my girlfriend and my best friend” were in court for his arraignment Wednesday, one wiping away tears.
Outside the courthouse, Laracca called the incident “unfortunate.”
“The whole situation is unfortunate,” the attorney said. “It’s unfortunate that he’s being tried in the press and the facts and circumstances will truly come to light at some time. But at this pint it’s too early on to really be trying the case in the papers.”
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