Steven Frigand of North Massapequa gets 10 years in prison for allegedly shooting into a house

A North Massapequa man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison on gun and drug charges after prosecutors said he fired multiple shots from his basement into a neighbor’s house, nearly hitting a sleeping child.

Steven Frigand, 58, pleaded guilty in July to charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

Prosecutors said he opened fire just before 1 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2023, firing dozens of shots into neighboring homes from his apartment on Sussex Avenue in North Massapequa.

As a result of the shooting, two bullets were fired towards a neighboring house, where the owner of the house went to check if the child was sleeping in his bed. Other bullets went through the fence and hit the neighboring house, as well as the house behind the apartment, the prosecutor said.

The shooting resulted in an hour-long standoff with police, after which Frigand was taken to Nassau University Medical Center. His lawyer had previously said that he was experiencing a mental crisis.

Police searched his apartment, where they confiscated one pound of cocaine, 18 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

“Steven Frigand willfully ignored the safety of his neighbors when he fired dozens of shots from his basement in the middle of the night, and one of those shots was fired right over a child sleeping in his bedroom in the house next door,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “This defendant’s actions were extremely reckless and fortunately did not result in any injuries. The gunfire led investigators to a disturbing cache of illegal weapons and a pound of cocaine. We continue to fight to remove illegal guns from our streets so that Nassau County residents can always feel safe in their communities and homes.”

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.