On Thursday, Sept. 6, a fugitive connected with a murder stemming back to 1998 was finally caught after 14 years on the run.
Carlos Rodriguez Alcala was arrested after U.S. Marshals received information that he may have been hiding out in Huntingdon Valley working at a car dealership; and he was eventually captured behind Feretti Motors on Philmont Avenue.
"We got a call in the morning from the U.S. Marshal, and they said they had an arrest warrant for a guy named Carlos Rodriguez Alcala from Philadelphia," Lower Moreland Police Detective Sergeant John MacDonald said. "The warrant was for murder that occured in Puerto Rico in 1998."
Based on this photo, it appears Alcala was captured behind the Service Center building.
MacDonald said bail was set at $1 million and Alcala is being held in Montgomery County where he's waiting extradition back to Puerto Rico to face his charges.
Coincidentally, the location of the arrest is the spot that's caused a lot of controversy in the township over the construction of a potential apartment complex.
The following was published in the Latin American Herald Times:
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A major fugitive wanted on Puerto Rico state charges for his alleged participation in a 1998 murder of a man in Ponce, Puerto Rico, was captured in Huntingdon Valley, PA, by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Carlos Rodriguez Alcala was being sought on a State warrant issued in the District of Puerto Rico. He had been a fugitive from justice since 1998, when the Puerto Rico Police Department Homicide Division began investigating him for the brutal murder of a Ponce man as well as for several violations of Puerto Rico weapons laws.
Recently, the U.S. Marshals Service led Puerto Rico Violent Offenders Task Force became involved in the fugitive investigation and developed information that Carlos Rodriguez Alcala may be hiding in Pennsylvania working in the automotive sales industry. This information was passed on to the U.S. Marshals led Eastern District of Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force who was then able to arrest the fugitive at his work place in Huntingdon Valley, PA, without incident. It was a swift arrest for this long sought after fugitive.