Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 52-year-old Spencer J. Nowinski of Sardinia was sentenced on Tuesday morning before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio to 20 years to life in prison. He was sentenced as a persistent violent felony offender.
On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at approximately 7:15 p.m., the defendant and the male victim were involved in a physical altercation in a parking lot outside of a fast food restaurant on Main Street in the Village of Akron. The defendant ran away from the victim, but then turned and shot the victim once with an illegal handgun. The victim suffered injuries to both of his legs.
Members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and Village of Akron Police Department responded after receiving a 911 call. The defendant was arrested at the scene and the loaded, semi-automatic pistol was recovered by police. The handgun had been reported stolen during a residential burglary in the Town of Clarence a few days prior to the shooting.
A jury found Nowinski guilty of one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felony), one count of Assault in the Second Degree (Class “D” felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree (Class “E” felony). Jurors rendered their decision after about 80 minutes of deliberation following a two-week trial, finding the defendant guilty of all charges in the indictment against him.
On the morning of his sentencing in the Akron shooting case, Nowinski pleaded guilty in a separate pending criminal case. In February 2022, the defendant was found knowingly in possession of a small quantity of methamphetamine while incarcerated at the Erie County Holding Center. He pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor) and was sentenced to time served.
DA Flynn commends the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and Village of Akron Police Department for their work in the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney John G. Schoemick of the Major Crimes Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Brown of the Felony Trials Bureau.
