Arizona won’t send murder suspect back to New York, citing Alvin Bragg’s ‘treatment of violent criminals’

An Arizona prosecutor is refusing to extradite a man accused of murdering a woman in a hotel in New York, blaming Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for his “treatment of violent criminals.”

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a news conference on Wednesday that her team would not be coordinating with Bragg’s to send Raad Almansoori, 26, to New York to face charges in the murder of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, 38.

Police officials say Almansoori and Oleas-Arancibia got into a dispute over how long he could stay in the room at Soho 54 Hotel, at which point Almansoori hit the woman in the head with an iron. New York police officials said Wednesday that he fled to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Oleas-Arancibia’s body was discovered by hotel staff on Feb. 8, but police did not have many leads until Feb. 18, when Almansoori was arrested in Scottsdale after being accused of stabbing a McDonald’s employee, per the New York Times. Almansoori has remained in Maricopa County custody since his arrest.