2012 Harlem slay suspect returned from Costa Rica
A man wanted for the grisly 2012 slaying of a Harlem cell phone store employee has been has been extradited to New York from Costa Rica, police said Saturday.
Osvaldo Polanco Garcia was extradited back to the U.S. late Friday and charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery for the Oct. 18, 2012, killing of Francisco Pinzon-Martinez, cops said.
Polanco Garcia, 40, is allegedly one of three men who bludgeoned Pinzon-Martinez to death during a robbery on a thirdfloor landing above a MetroPCS store on Broadway near W. 145th St.
The victim’s co-workers found his body when they opened the store the next day and went to the third-floor office. His shirt was pulled over his head, hiding the bloody blows, cops said.
Authorities believe Pinzon-Martinez was attacked after he closed up at 8 p.m. the night before he was discovered. Sources said the trio targeted him because he toted cash from the store to his upstairs office after closing.
Polanco Garcia’s brother Alejandro Polanco, 33, was arrested within a week of the slaying and charged with murder, robbery and weapons possession. A month later, accomplice Kenny Garcia, 32, was arrested and hit with the same charges as well as burglary, cops said.
The two men ratted out Polanco Garcia
after being arrested, authorities said. Alejandro Polanco’s trial is still pending. The outcome of Kenny Garcia’s case was not immediately clear.
Polanco Garcia left the country and found his way Costa Rica in October 2019. He was caught crossing the border with fake identification, according to the Costa Rica Star.
He was held in Costa Rica for a year and a half before being taken back to the U.S., police said. Polanco Garcia was awaiting arraignment Saturday.
Relatives described Pinzon-Martinez as a hard worker who held three jobs to send money to his family in Mexico. “He has two sisters that both became professionals because of him,” Jose Aquirre, 32, the victim’s cousin, told the Daily News after the murder..