A Dunkirk man will spend time behind bars for his conviction on weapon charges stemming from two separate incidents in the Dunkirk-Fredonia area. Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt says 43-year-old Juan Cruz-Corraliza was sentenced Monday to five years in state prison for a Class C felony count of 1st-degree attempted assault and two-and-a-third to seven years for a Class D felony count of 3rd-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Both sentences will run concurrently. Schmidt says the attempted assault conviction stems a July 2022 shooting in Dunkirk, where two children were injured. He was later indicted by a grand jury in September 2022. A trial in May 2024 ended in a mistrial because of a hung jury. In October 2024, Cruz-Corraliza was arrested by Fredonia Police after he pointed a firearm at another person during an argument in the parking lot of the Fredonia Wal-Mart. He was charged with 2nd-degree criminal possession of a weapon and 2nd-degree menacing and was indicted by a grand jury in July 2025. Cruz-Corraliza entered his guilty plea on April 15th, six days before a trial was scheduled to begin.
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