N.Y., Maricopa prosecutors in extradition row

PHOENIX — The Republican prosecutor of Arizona’s most populous county took a thinly veiled swipe at a Democratic counterpart in the East on Wednesday, saying she would not agree to extradition of a suspect in the death of a woman who was fatally bludgeoned in a New York City hotel room, and that he should be tried first in Arizona for stabbing two women here.

Raad Almansoori, 26, is being held without bond while Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s office decides how to charge him in connection with the stabbing of two women in the county in recent days, Mitchell said at a news conference. Those two women survived.

“Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, I think it’s safer to keep him here and keep him in custody,” said Mitchell, referring to the prosecutor who brought the high-profile case against former President Donald Trump alleging that hush money was paid during his 2016 campaign to cover up an affair.

Both Mitchell and Bragg are elected officials.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office responded swiftly.

“It is deeply disturbing that D.A. Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation,” Manhattan D.A. spokesperson Emily Tuttle said in a statement. “It is a slap in the face to them and to the victim in our case to refuse to allow us to seek justice and full accountability for a New Yorker’s death.”

The statement said the office is “serious about New Yorkers’ safety,” adding that homicides are down 24 percent since Bragg took office. Tuttle said New York’s homicide rate is less than half that of Phoenix’s.

Later Wednesday, Mitchell’s office said that under Arizona law “all pending criminal matters in Arizona are to be resolved first before extradition to the outside state occurs.”

Almansoori was arrested on Sunday in the stabbing attack earlier that day of a female employee in a bathroom at a Mcdonald’s restaurant in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise. He had also been sought in the stabbing of another woman during a robbery attempt in the Phoenix area a day earlier. Authorities say he was driving a stolen car at the time of his arrest.

Almansoori was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, aggravated assault and theft of means of transportation. No records for lawyers representing Almansoori could be found online Wednesday afternoon.