A prosecutor in Arizona took a blistering swipe at Manhattan’s progressive DA Alvin Bragg on Wednesday and explained she won’t ship the suspect in a savage Soho hotel slaying back to NYC because “it’s safer to keep him here.”
Rachel Mitchell, Maricopa County Attorney, said Raad Almansoori, who is being sought in the beating death of a mom from Queens in a Manhattan hotel earlier in the month, will stay behind bars in Arizona because of the track record of Bragg at handling hardened criminals.
“I know there’s been discussion about New York wanting to extradite this individual,” said Mitchell during a press conference. “This is not aimed at the New York Police Department at all. I know they did a hard job, and they did a good job. But we will not be agreeing to extradition. I’ve instructed my extradition attorneys not to agree to that. We’re gonna keep him here. These are mandatory prison sentences. Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg, I think it’s safer to keep him here.”
“And keep him in custody so that he cannot be out doing this to individuals either in our state, county, or anywhere in the United States.”
Almansoori, who is 26, is being held without bail in Arizona on charges he carjacked and then stabbed a woman and kidnapped and slashed an employee of McDonald’s last week — only days after the NYPD claim he strangled and beat Denissse Oleas-Arancibia to death February 7 in the Soho 54 Hotel.
Oleas-Arancibia moved to New York from Ecuador and was reportedly working as an escort when she booked a date with Almansoori, said police. According to authorities, he allegedly got into a dispute with her over how much time he owed for.
The accused murderer has lived in Arizona, Texas, and Florida, where his family still lives, and left a trail of crimes and busts along the way, including an open criminal case in Florida for which he is free on bail.
Joseph Kenny, NYPD Chief of Detectives, said this year that the department hoped to extradite him to Manhattan to face murder charges in the Soho case.
However, it was before Mitchell put brakes on the plan.
Bragg’s spokesperson fired back at the Arizona prosecutor
DA Bragg’s spokesperson, Emily Tuttle, fired back at the Arizona prosecutor in a statement on Wednesday.
“It is deeply disturbing that DA Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation,” said Tuttle. “In Manhattan, we are serious about New Yorkers’ safety, which is why murders are down 24% and shootings are down 38% since DA Bragg took office.”
“New York’s murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona, because of the hard work of the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners,” added Tuttle. “It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker’s death.”
DA Bragg has come under fire often from cops and other critics who believe he is too soft on crime — including the announcement that he wouldn’t prosecute some offenses after he assumed office.
“It’s a sad state of affairs in New York when you have prosecutors from other states who don’t trust that District Attorneys like Alvin Bragg will ensure justice,” said president of the NYPD Detectives Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo.
“NYPD Detectives are fed up, and it shows in the retirement numbers. New Yorkers should be fed up, too.”
Officials in Maricopa County say they are convinced Almansoori was in the midst of a crime spree that would have continued if they hadn’t arrested him when they did.
