A foul-mouthed shooting suspect is on the run and wanted by police after he opened fire outside the North End’s iconic Modern Pastry shop leaving a bullet hole in the front window.
Patrick Mendoza, 54, is named in police reports as the suspected shooter who allegedly fired at a man who “dove behind a parked vehicle” just outside the popular cannoli cafe escaping injury Wednesday night.
“Mendoza should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone that comes into contact with him should call 911 immediately,” police said.
Modern, a tourist and local go-to pastry stop along Hanover Street where it remains locked in perpetual competition with Mike’s Pastry a few busy blocks away, is operating sweetly as usual, they report.
The scene was hotter the night in question, around 11 p.m., when the police report a suspect identified as Mendoza fired “three shots” and fled “on a bike with the handgun still in hand towards Cross St.” The police report adds a witness saw “a skinny white male in his 40s that looked homeless, riding a dark color bike heading towards the Greenway.”
That direction would be out of the North End and into the Faneuil Hall area where he could easily head over the bridge or toward Chinatown or even the Seaport — depending on his escape route.
The man police said narrowly avoided being wounded told them that he was standing in front on the Modern Pastry shop at about 10:30 p.m. when the suspect approached on a bike and “began swearing and yelling at him, calling him (expletive) face.” More harsh words were exchanged, but are redacted, and the suspect “dropped the bike on the street and reached behind his waist, pulling a FIREARM.”
The alleged victim quickly bolted down the street hiding behind a “jeep that was parked” on Hanover Street, the police report states.
Mendoza, police add, “discharged the firearm two times in his direction … (with the bullets) narrowly” missing him but left a bullet hole in the “front window of Modern Pastry.” The weapon was described as a “snub-nosed .38” revolver.
Mendoza is described as a white male, 5’11”, 160 lbs, with black hair. He’s wanted on a straight warrant issued out of Boston Municipal Court for: Assault to Murder, Assault by Means of a Dangerous Weapon (Gun), Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Discharging a Firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and Witness Intimidation.
The shooting has not upset the steady flow of tourists and pastry-loving customers flocking to Little Italy, but the buzz around the case hasn’t let up.
Cheryl Delgreco, president of the North End/Waterfront Residents Association (NEWRA), agreed that Modern is “an institution that residents and tourists alike flock to.” She added “people feel safe walking around” the North End.
But, she stressed, “you still have to be cautious at night.”
Anyone with information on Mendoza’s location are urged to contact Area A-1 Detectives at 617-343-4240. Community members wishing to assist in this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).
