Photo: Surprise Police Department
A prosecutor in Arizona said that she will not extradite a man accused of murder back to New York City to face charges. Raad Noan Almansoori, 26, was arrested in Scottsdale after automated license plate readers tracked him to the parking garage of a shopping mall.
He is accused of stabbing a woman during a carjacking in Phoenix and stabbing another woman during an attack in the women's restroom at a McDonald's in Surprise.
While in custody in Arizona, Almansoori told detectives he was wanted in connection with a murder in New York City and admitted to harming three other women in Florida.
Authorities in New York said that Almansoori murdered 38-year-old Denisse Oleas-Arancibia at the SoHo 54 Hotel in Manhattan on February 8. Officials want to extradite Almansoori so they can try him for murder.
However, Almansoori will be staying in Arizona, where he is being held without bail. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchel said that she is opposing the extradition request to send Almansoori back to New York City, citing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's "treatment of violent criminals."
"This is not aimed at the New York Police Department at all. I know they did a hard job, they did a good job, but we will not be agreeing to extradition," Mitchell said. "I've instructed my extradition attorneys not to agree to that. We're going to keep him here."
"Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the 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," Mitchell explained.
Emily Tuttle, a representative for Bragg, blasted Mitchell's decision to block Almansoori's extradition.
"It is a slap in the face to [the NYPD and all of our law enforcement partners] and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker's death," Tuttle said in a statement.