A 25-year-old man wanted for murder in Florida has been arrested while hiding out in the Greene County village of Catskill, police say.
Jonathan D. Padron is a suspect in the murder of Thomas B. Nelson, who was shot to death in a vehicle on Saturday, May 9. The shooting occured in the parking lot of Genpak, a company that manufactures food service containers in Sebring, Florida, according to a New York State Police press release and media reports.
Padron was Nelson's co-worker at the factory, according to a news report in Highlands Today.
The shooting was a drug robbery gone bad, the paper reports:
Authorities say the shooting was related to a drug deal in which Nelson, 25, had planned to “rip off the drugs from Padron; both Padron and Nelson were armed with handguns.”
The paper reports that a manhunt for Nelson's killer shut down the Sebring Regional Airport and put neighbors on lockdown for hours on Saturday. Nelson was a 25-year-old father of three, the paper reports.
Florida police investigating the homicide obtained information that Padron had travelled by train from Florida to New York, according to the Register-Star. When they discovered that Padron had connections in Catskill they asked the New York State Police to conduct surveillance in the village, police say.
On Monday, May 11, State Police and Catskill Village Police spotted Padron, who had shaved his head, mustache and beard, walking over Uncle Sam Bridge in Catskill around 6 p.m. with a friend, police say. Padron had altered his appeared in an attempt to conceal his identity while laying low in Catskill, the State Police press release states.
Padron initially gave police a fake name, but then admitted who he was, Highlands Today reports.
Padron was arrested as a fugitive and is being held in the Greene County Jail to await extradition to Florida.
