{"id":102066,"date":"2026-01-16T07:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T07:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102066\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T07:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T07:27:07","slug":"charles-foehner-who-fatally-shot-would-be-nyc-mugger-begins-prison-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102066\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Foehner, who fatally shot would-be NYC mugger, begins prison sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Queens senior citizen who killed a would-be mugger during an early morning shooting reported to prison Wednesday to serve a four-year sentence<\/a> for criminal weapons possession.<\/p>\n

Former Kew Gardens resident Charles Foehner <\/a>was locked up at the Eric M Taylor Center in the Bronx for his felony gun charges stemming from the May 31, 2023, shooting, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The then-65-year-old was returning to his Queens Avenue apartment at around 2 a.m. after buying a pack of cigarettes when he was confronted by a menacing Cody Gonzalez.<\/a><\/p>\n

Gonzalez, 32, demanded that Foehner hand over a cigarette and his phone.<\/p>\n

Charles Foehner is sentenced to four years in prison during a hearing in supreme court in Kew Gardens, NY, on Jan. 14, 2026. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

The senior citizen, armed with a revolver, pulled the gun out and pointed it at the ground in an attempt to scare off the vagrant.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez, who had a long list of previous arrests and a history of mental illness, didn\u2019t take the hint and lunged at Foehner with what the armed citizen believed was a knife, but was later ruled to be a pen.<\/p>\n

In a defensive act, Foehner fired a shot, fatally striking Gonzalez.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe kept coming closer and clearly he was going to attack me,\u201d Foehner told The Post in December.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to hurt anyone. He left me no choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Charles Foehner hugs attorney Thomas Kenniff after his sentencing on Jan. 14, 2026. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

Cody Gonzalez was fatally shot in the botched mugging outside an apartment building in Queens on May 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

Building security cameras captured the entire shooting,<\/a> as Foehner called 911 and cooperated with authorities.<\/p>\n

Foehner was never charged with Gonzalez\u2019s death but during the investigation into the shooting, detectives discovered an \u201carsenal\u201d of unregistered rifles, handguns, ammo and bulletproof vests in his Queens apartment.<\/p>\n

The day after the shooting, Foehner was arrested and charged<\/a> with criminal possession of a weapon.<\/p>\n

Investigators uncovered 26 unlicensed and unregistered weapons, 13,000 rounds of ammunition and 152 large capacity feeding devices inside Foehner\u2019s home, Katz said.<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s District Attorney Melinda Katz\u2019s office shared photos of the recovered weapons stockpile Foehner says he collected over time, describing himself as a\u00a0lifelong gun enthusiast and a doomsday prepper. Queens District Attorney<\/p>\n

Investigators uncovered 26 unlicensed and unregistered weapons, 13,000 rounds of ammunition and 152 large capacity feeding devices inside Foehner\u2019s home. Queens District Attorney<\/p>\n

Foehner\u2019s arsenal<\/p>\n

Two .38-caliber Smith and Wesson pistols<\/p>\n

Four .357-caliber Smith and Wesson revolvers<\/p>\n

Three 7.62 mm x 39 Norinco rifles<\/p>\n

Two 12-gauge Mossberg shotguns<\/p>\n

One .38-caliber Cobra revolver<\/p>\n

One .32-caliber Harrington and Richardson revolver<\/p>\n

One .32-caliber Beretta pistol<\/p>\n

One .22-caliber Browning pistol<\/p>\n

One .25-caliber Precision Small Parts pistol<\/p>\n

One 9 mm Glock pistol<\/p>\n

One .45-caliber Glock pistol<\/p>\n

One .380 Auto Caliber Norinco pistol<\/p>\n

One .45-caliber Colt pistol<\/p>\n

One .22-caliber Ruger rifle<\/p>\n

One 30 Carbine Caliber Winchester rifle<\/p>\n

One 30-06 Ruger rifle<\/p>\n

One 5.56 x 45 mm caliber semi-automatic Norinco assault rifle<\/p>\n

One .357-caliber Magnum Colt<\/p>\n

13,074 rounds of ammunition<\/p>\n

152 large capacity feeding devices, 10 of which were loaded<\/p>\n

Two bulletproof vests<\/p>\n

One inoperable pistol<\/p>\n

Katz\u2019s office shared photos of the recovered weapons stockpile Foehner says he collected over time, describing himself as a\u00a0lifelong gun enthusiast and a doomsday prepper.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil that night, I never pointed a gun at anybody. I never had to. I\u2019m not a gun bully \u2026 I don\u2019t want power over anyone,\u201d Foehner said, adding, \u201cI believe in the social contract.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retired doorman, who moved to Pennsylvania after the shooting, made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of criminal weapons in November.<\/p>\n

Building security cameras captured the entire shooting, as Foehner called 911 and cooperated with authorities.<\/p>\n

Charles Foehner was locked up at the Eric M Taylor Center in the Bronx for his felony gun charges on Jan. 14 2026. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

Foehner made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count of criminal weapons in November. Queens District Attorney<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino officially sentenced Foehner to four years in prison.<\/p>\n

After his sentence, Foehner will serve five years of post-release supervision.<\/p>\n

He used his last weeks of freedom visiting friends and family and spending time with his devoted wife, Jenny Foehner-Speed, and his 8-year-old dog, Biscuit, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n

His one objective while behind bars is to \u201csurvive\u201d and maybe learn how to weld and become a tutor.<\/p>\n

Foehner has taken responsibility for the shooting and believes he should have been punished but not jailed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever the circumstances are, a guy is dead because of me. Maybe I should have taken the beating [that night], but who knows where the beating stops,\u201d he said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Queens senior citizen who killed a would-be mugger during an early morning shooting reported to prison Wednesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[5019,3064,57,9,24,63,4719,122,124,123,3980,129,58,19038],"class_list":{"0":"post-102066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-kew-gardens","9":"tag-melinda-katz","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-prisons","15":"tag-queens","16":"tag-queens-headlines","17":"tag-queens-news","18":"tag-shootings","19":"tag-the-bronx","20":"tag-us-news","21":"tag-weapons"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}