Carjacking print led police to alleged Bronx murderer, gang member
NEW YORK -- An alleged gang member who was being sought by police for a November murder in the Bronx left investigators a major clue on the last day of 2015: a single fingerprint just to the left of the front passenger's door of a van he allegedly carjacked on the morning of December 31.
It was that day that Ruben Pizzaro, also known as "Chulo," allegedly approached a parked van in upper Manhattan, demanding at gunpoint that the driver take him to another address, where he put on the victim's green jacket and told the alleged victim to wait inside the vehicle. "I know where you live, do what I tell you," he told the driver, according to court records.
Not long after Pizarro left the van, the driver allegedly heard a gunshot and then saw Pizarro walking back to the car with two bags, one of them containing a Playstation 4, according to police.
A second victim had allegedly been walking down the street when Pizarro pointed a gun at him and forced him to sit down and empty his pockets. The alleged victim reached for Pizzaro's gun but Pizarro allegedly opened fire, hitting the man in the shoulder.
Once he returned to the van, Pizarro allegedly made the driver bring him to the Bronx.
The fingerprint left inside the van was eventually matched to a person in the NYPD database and identified as Pizarro, who was also wanted in a Bronx homicide that occurred on Nov. 24, 2015.
According to a police source, after Pizzaro's picture was publicized in a media blitz following the carjacking, a tip came in with his possible location. The NYPD's warrant squad conducted an investigation and arrested him in front of a Bronx home.
Pizzaro now faces federal charges. His lawyer, Avi Moskowitz, believes it is the second time he's been charged federally, but declined to comment further on the case.
Surveillance video from the alleged homicide on Nov. 24, 2015 shows a man being chased in a Bronx parking lot. The gunman fires at the man, and the victim falls down and gets up - but ends up dying, CBS New York reported. Police said the victim in the video, David Rivera, 24, was hit in the torso, thigh, arm and groin as he ran from Pizzaro.
Police said Pizzaro, a member of the Bloods street gang, was behind that incident and also another caught on video from May 2013, showing a suspect running up to a man, grabbing his gun and firing at random. Pizarro had a total of 23 prior arrests, according to CBS New York.
The station reported that Rivera had been a member of the rival Crips. The two had known each other since childhood and police said it was the fourth time Pizzaro tried to kill Rivera, but Rivera had refused to testify in the past.
Rivera, a father of two, had just dropped his kids off at daycare when he was killed right outside the daycare center, his cousin, Carlos Bonet told the station.