Fugitive Wanted In Westchester Salon Shooting Is Caught In Virginia

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A Bronx man was arrested in connection with the April 21 shooting of a Mount Vernon woman inside of a local beauty salon.

On April 21, around 5:30 p.m., 48-year-old Craig Whitfield was involved in a verbal dispute with
several people in front of 4 West Third St., according to the Mount Vernon Police Department. During the dispute, police say that Whitfield pulled out a gun and fired a shot into a beauty salon, striking a 45-year-old Mount Vernon woman in the hand.

SEE ALSO: MVPD Needs Your Help IDing Suspect Who Shot A Woman On The Street

Police say that Whitfield quickly fled our area after the shooting. In the following days, Mount Vernon police released a photo of the suspect and requested help from the public to find a man wearing a distinctive backpack with a lion's head on it and a rust-colored, fedora-style hat.

With assistance from the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, Mount Vernon Police Department detectives were able to identify Whitfield and determine that he had fled to Petersburg, Virginia.

On May 18, Whitfield was taken into custody by the FBI Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, the FBI Richmond Field Office, and the Petersburg Virginia Police Department.

On Wednesday, Whitfield was extradited back to New York and was booked in Mount Vernon on the charges of attempted murder 2nd degree and criminal possession of a weapon 2nd degree.

He was arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court on Thursday, and remanded to the Westchester County Department of Corrections.

Mount Vernon police say that Whitfield has an extensive and violent criminal history with charges that include robbery, weapon possession, attempted murder, and manslaughter. Officials say that at the time of the April shooting, Whitfield was on parole for a 2012 manslaughter charge in the Bronx.