Pete’s tendency to resolve business disputes with his pistol caught up with him in late 1995. The details of the story came to light in a series of articles in The New York Times, which were published during the 2000 trial of Pistol Pete.
The Times recounted how Karlton Hines, who was a basketball star at Syracuse University, owed Pete some money for drugs. Karlton decided not to pay what he owed. It was a bad choice. One day, Pete spotted Karlton standing outside a stereo shop on Boston Road. Karlton was with a friend of his named Carlos Mestre. They were waiting while Karlton had a new stereo installed in his car. Pistol Pete opened fire at the two men, killing Karlton and wounding Carlos. Pete didn’t mean to hit Carlos. But Pete’s policy was to spray lead everywhere, which meant Carlos got hit because he associated with the wrong people.
Two months later, Pistol Pete finished the job on Carlos Mestre. Pete had nothing against Carlos personally, but Carlos’ status had changed. Now he was a witness to the murder of Karlton Hines. Which meant Carlos had to die. As Carlos walked out of a Bronx hip-hop store called Jew Man, Pistol Pete gunned him down.
The police got a tip and arrested Pete for murder a few days later. The tip came from David Gonzales, Pete’s old drug running buddy, who was hacked off at Pete because Pete had been shaking Gonzales down for money. When he was arrested, as usual, Pete had a gun on him.
Possession of a gun demanded a mandatory eight-month jail sentence, which Pete served at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility. When the eight months were up, his mother bailed him out so he could walk free while he awaited trial for the murder charge.
http://thehoodup.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=711761#.U0SQlF5hNuY