Father 'disgusted' Grucci won't get jail

The father of Christopher Giresi said Friday he is "disgusted" that Joseph Grucci, a member of the famous fireworks family, apparently will not serve jail time for shooting Giresi's son - Grucci's own grandson.

Dominick Giresi said Grucci, 70, should spend four or five months in jail for the Dec. 30 shooting that wounded Christopher Giresi, 20, in his arm and torso. He is recovering at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue.

Grucci is expected to be sentenced to probation after pleading guilty on Wednesday to second-degree assault for the shooting that occurred during an altercation outside his Bellport home. Grucci said he acted in self-defense, and prosecutors said the grandson did not want his grandfather to go to jail.

The shooting left a half-dozen shotgun pellets scattered in his son's body, said Dominick Giresi, 43, of Shirley.

"He was almost murdered. Another two inches over, it could have severed his spine," Giresi said. "I'm really disgusted. . . . What does this say to people in Suffolk County? You can shoot a loved one and get away with it?"

Grucci could not be reached for comment. His attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, said Dominick Giresi did not raise his son, who spent the past decade living with Grucci and his wife.

"How dare he speak out at this time when he took no part at all in the raising of this boy," Keahon said. "The man should be ashamed of himself."

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Dominick Giresi said he never married Christopher's mother, Christine Grucci, Joseph Grucci's daughter. Christopher was born after the couple broke up and lived mostly with his mother and grandparents, Dominick Giresi said.

He said he had gone to court when Christopher was young to get custody, but that the Grucci family was granted custody.

Christine Grucci could not be reached for comment.

In a statement, District Attorney Thomas Spota said Joseph Grucci was "a remorseful grandfather who must live every day with the knowledge of what he did to his grandson."

"Any objective observer understands that further incarceration of this 70-year-old defendant is unwarranted," Spota said.

Dominick Giresi said he visits his son daily at the hospital. He said he plans to attend Grucci's March 15 sentencing but does not know whether he will speak in court. He acknowledged that his son did not want Grucci prosecuted and jailed.

"Emotionally, he's torn," Dominick Giresi said. "He doesn't even fully understand what happened yet."