Ring camera video, photo lineup help police ID Vandergrift man charged with attempted homicide

A Vandergrift man was charged with attempted homicide after, police say, he fired a shot at another man who got into an argument with an acquaintance.

Dakota Michael Karaffa, 32, of the 300 block of Longfellow Street was charged with attempted criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault and a count of illegal possession of a firearm, all felonies. He also was charged with a count of reckless endangerment.

Karaffa was released from the Westmoreland County jail after posting $500 bail, or 10% of the $5,000 bond set at his arraignment. He was ordered to appear for a Nov. 28 preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec.

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that a man told investigators he was walking to a store on Longfellow Street to buy cigarettes Oct. 26 when he was nearly struck by a Lincoln Navigator as he crossed the street.

He told police that he yelled at the driver and they argued briefly before the vehicle drove off and then stopped a short distance away next to a Jeep Cherokee. He said the driver got out and began speaking to the man sitting in the passenger seat of the Jeep, the complaint said.

The man said both SUVs were still on the street when he left the store, so he began taking photos of them and called 911 to report the incident, the complaint said.

He told police that the driver of the Jeep ran toward him “aggressively,” but he was able to run away.

The man said he circled back to Longfellow Street to see whether the two vehicles were still there so he could report them to police. He told police he saw the Jeep’s passenger pull a handgun from under the seat and tuck it into his waistband.

He said the gunman approached him and tried to slap the cellphone out of his hand. He said he ran home when the man pulled the gun from his waistband and fired a shot.

Investigators said they were able to identify the owner of the Jeep as Karaffa’s girlfriend after a witness provided them with a partial license plate number. Police said they knew the woman and Karaffa from previous incidents.

When police questioned Karaffa and his girlfriend, they denied being in the area at the time of the shooting. They said someone else may have been using the vehicle, the complaint said.

Police noted in the complaint that when they interviewed Karaffa he was wearing the same clothing as the person seen in a video arguing with a man and firing a shot at him on Longfellow Street.

The video of the incident was provided to police from a resident’s Ring doorbell camera, the complaint said.

On Nov. 2, the man who said he was assaulted picked Karaffa out of a photo lineup of eight men, the complaint said.

Court records show that Karaffa pleaded guilty in 2017 to a theft charge filed by state police and was sentenced to six months to two years in prison.

In 2013, Karaffa pleaded guilty to two felony counts of criminal trespass filed by state police and was sentenced to two to five years in prison, court records show.