Developer’s son charged in road-rage shooting

But the lawyer for the suspect, Robert P. O’Connell, immediately launched an attack on the reputation of the firefighter, Joseph A. Fasano, 30, by getting Quincy officers to acknowledge in court that cocaine was found in Fasano’s vehicle after the shooting late Saturday night.

The lawyer, John (Jack) McGlone, also insisted that Quincy police do not have direct evidence linking O’Connell, 40, to the shooting, which left Fasano fighting for his life at Boston Medical Center where he was in critical but stable condition yesterday.

Quincy police officers testified that a .45-caliber shell casing was recovered at the shooting scene on Commander Shea Boulevard and that they seized two .45-caliber Smith & Wesson pistols from O’Connell’s home in the Marina Bay complex Tuesday night.

They also said surveillance video showed a dark-colored Porsche speeding away from the site of the shooting and, just minutes later, O’Connell is seen getting out of his Porsche Cayman as he parks it in the Marina Bay garage 1.6 miles away.

A dog trained to sniff explosives also reacted when examining O’Connell’s Porsche, suggesting that the animal smelled gunpowder residue, Lieutenant John Steele testified yesterday.

“Everything started to point to Mr. O’Connell,’’ Steele said in court.

But McGlone told reporters that O’Connell is a licensed gun owner who enjoys target shooting. The lawyer also said that ballistic tests to be done by State Police will exonerate O’Connell.

“The gun that was used to shoot Mr. Fasano did not belong to Mr. O’Connell,’’ McGlone told reporters after O’Connell pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to murder and other charges in Quincy District Court. Bail was set at $500,000 cash, which McGlone said the O’Connell family expects to post today.

At the same time, McGlone said that as the investigation continues and as police await the results of State Police ballistic tests on the gun and recovered evidence, O’Connell could change his stance and claim self-defense.

O’Connell is the son of Peter O’Connell, one of Quincy’s most prominent developers, who ran for mayor in 1989 but lost by 22 percentage points to Jim Sheets. Sheets, who served as mayor from 1990 to 2002, said yesterday that he admires the O’Connell family and that they have played “a major role in the development of Quincy.’’

“I’m just shocked,’’ he said. “It’s really hard for me to believe. I’ve only heard good things about Robert. It’s certainly very much out of context with my knowledge of him, absolutely out of context.

“Peter O’Connell’s story is really a rags-to-riches story,’’ he said. “His dad was a milkman, and he began selling newspapers by the shipyard. He is a very outstanding man. I have nothing but respect for him, and that’s why this whole thing is very shocking to me.’’

Adding another layer of complexity to the case was the revelation by McGlone and in police reports that Fasano was driving with a Quincy woman who has ties to O’Connell’s extended family, especially his uncle, William S. O’Connell.

According to Quincy police reports and city assessing records, Fasano and his girlfriend, Jennifer Bynarowicz, live in a Quincy Shore Drive condo owned by William O’Connell. McGlone said his client does not know Fasano or Bynarowicz.

Bynarowicz, who told police the entire incident was random, could not be reached for comment yesterday. She also told police the cocaine found in the vehicle was hers, the police report said.

Fasano, according to police reports, was driving with Bynarowicz in the front seat of their white Jeep Cherokee on Hancock Street in North Quincy shortly before he was shot.

After the shooting, Fasano told police he was tailgating a sports car “when all of a sudden the Porsche slammed on its brakes’’ and stopped on Commander Shea Boulevard. Fasano got out of the car to confront the driver and was shot. He could not identify the shooter, police said.

Bynarowicz told police she turned her head away when Fasano got out of the car and that she did not see the shooting. She told police the sports car was a Porsche and that the shooter wore a hat, but could not pick him out of a photo array.

O’Connell wore a light blue long-sleeved sweater, a blue plaid shirt, and khaki pants to court yesterday. He spent most of the hearing with eyes downcast and little or no expression.

After the hearing, he smiled broadly when speaking with McGlone.

Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating’s office tried to convince Judge Mark Coven that O’Connell should be held without bail as a danger to society.

While Coven found probable cause that O’Connell was responsible for the shooting, the judge also said that the public would be protected if O’Connell was ordered to stay in his Marina Bay apartment 24 hours a day while the case is pending.

Fasano’s family attended the court hearing, but declined to comment. Fasano joined the Milton Fire Department in 2005 and is the son of a Milton firefighter.

It was not the first time the O’Connell family had a brush with the law.

William O’Connell was placed on six months probation in 2003 after being charged with negligent homicide in driving a boat while drunk that led to the death of a longtime friend who fell overboard into the propeller, off Martha’s Vineyard in 2002.

In 1990, O’Connell’s first cousin, Matthew O’Connell, was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of a Randolph woman, whose body was found 150 yards from his Quincy home in 1987.

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com; David Abel at dabel@globe.com.