The ex-con gunman wanted for a Manhattan drug murder during this year’s bloody Independence Day weekend was nabbed at JFK before he could board a flight to Florida, police said Friday.
Angel Garcia, 43, was arrested Thursday and charged with manslaughter and gun possession for shooting Angel Cruzeta, 30, in the face early on July 5 in front of his Inwood building on Vermilyea Ave. near W. 204th St, according to the NYPD.
“They rolled up on him and shot him in the head,” an eyewitness who refused to give his name told the Daily News at the time.
Cruzeta was rushed by medics to Harlem Hospital but couldn’t be saved.
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The gunman sped off on the scooter, police said, and was later identified and flagged for arrest.
Police said a dispute over drugs sparked the shooting.
Further details were not immediately available, though the street where the murder happened is a notorious market for narcotics, police said.
Last year, it was the scene of a deadly shootout in which a drug trafficker pulled a gun on undercover officers during a sting operation involving NYPD, state and federal law enforcement.
The victim had sealed arrests and the suspect has 19 prior arrests, including for drugs, burglary and robbery, police said.
Records show that Garcia was conditionally released by parole in March after serving nearly five years for assault and conspiracy. He was previously paroled in November 2005 after serving three years for attempted grand larceny auto.
Cruzeta’s shooting, at 1:45 a.m. took place during a 9 1/2 hour stretch, starting 11 p.m. July 4, in which 14 people were shot, two fatally, including Cruzeta.