Arizona prosecutors slam Bragg for refusing to extradite suspect in brutal SoHo hotel murder to New York City

Metro

by Joe Marino and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

An Arizona prosecutor told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t transfer a suspect to a bad SoHo hotel and return him to the Big Apple because he doesn’t trust Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg to do the right thing. He told the group: he’s here ”

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Raad al-Mansoori, who is being sought in the beating death of a Queens mother in a Manhattan hotel earlier this month, is a man Bragg has worked with for serious criminals. He said he would remain in prison on her turf because of his track record.

“I am aware that there has been discussion that the state of New York wants to extradite this person,” Mitchell said at a news conference. “This is not directed at the New York City Police Department at all. We know they have done a hard job and have done a good job. But we do not agree with extradition.

“I have instructed my extradition attorney not to agree to this,” she said. “We’re going to keep him here. These are mandatory prison sentences. We’re going to keep him here because we’ve observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA’s office. I think it’s safer.

“And please take him into custody so that he does not commit acts like this against any individual in our state, county, or anywhere in the United States.”

Al-Mansouri, 26, is being held without bail in Arizona on suspicion of carjacking and stabbing a woman and kidnapping and slashing a McDonald’s employee last week. This comes days after New York City police said they beat and strangled Denise Oleas-Aranchibia to death inside the Soho 54 Hotel. upon. February 7th.

Police said Oleas Aranchibia, who immigrated to New York from Ecuador, was working as a chaperone when she booked a date with Almansouri. Authorities said the man got into an argument with her over paying her for her time.

The murder suspect has lived in Texas, Florida and Arizona, where his family still lives, but along the way he has left behind a trail of arrests and crimes, some of which are unsolved on bail. This includes Florida criminal cases.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney said this week that the department hopes to extradite the career criminal facing murder charges in the SoHo incident to Manhattan.

But that was before Mitchell put the brakes on the plan.

In a statement Wednesday, Bragg spokeswoman Emily Tuttle fired back at Arizona prosecutors.

“It is very concerning that Prosecutor Mitchell is playing politics with this murder investigation,” Tuttle said. “We take the safety of New Yorkers seriously in Manhattan, which is why murders are down 24% and shootings are down 38% since Attorney Bragg took office.

“New York City’s homicide rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona, and that’s thanks to the hard work of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners,” she added. “Our refusal to demand justice and full accountability for the deaths of New Yorkers is a slap in the face to them and to the victims in our cases.”

Mr. Bragg has often been criticized by police and other critics who believe he is tolerant of crime, including announcing he would not prosecute some crimes after taking office.

“It’s a sad state of affairs in New York that we have prosecutors from other states who don’t believe that district attorneys like Alvin Bragg will ensure justice,” said Paul DiGiacomo, president of the NYPD Detective Endowment Association. he told the Post on Wednesday.

“NYPD detectives are fed up, and it shows in the number of people leaving. New Yorkers should be fed up, too.”

Maricopa County officials said they believe Mr. Almansouri was in the midst of an out-of-control crime spree, and that it would have continued had he not been arrested.