Gunman Arrested On Anniversary Of Fatal Shooting: Police

YONKERS, NY — A Yonkers man was arrested and accused of gunning down a man in the street nearly one year ago to the day, police announced.

The arrest stems from an early morning fatal shooting on October 10, 2020.

Nearly a a year ago to the day, Yonkers police were called to Lawrence Street about reports of shots fired. Officers found a male victim inside the lobby of a residence at 19 Lawrence Street with a gunshot wound. First responders gave medical aid and CPR to the victim and he was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

Major Case Squad detectives and Crime Scene Unit investigators determined that the victim was walking on Lawrence Street when a Mercedes Benz sedan occupied by two men stopped several yards past the gunshot victim. Both men exited the car with handguns and fired multiple shots in the direction of the victim, striking him in the torso. The men then got back in the car and drove away.

Meanwhile, the victim ran away before collapsing inside the lobby. He was later identified as Alvaro Vigueras, a 20-year-old Yonkers resident.

Investigators identified the man driving the car as Jonathan Planas. Police later identified a person of interest as the possible passenger. Over the next several months, working together with prosecutors from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, a grand jury was convened and ultimately indicted the driver on murder charges. Investigators say they are continuing to develop information to establish probable cause for criminal charges against the passenger.

On Oct. 4, Yonkers police, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation Westchester Safe Streets Task Force, located Planas at a home on Hawthorne Avenue in Yonkers and took the 32-year-old into custody.

"There is no more heinous an act than taking someone’s life, and in this case not one but two violent individuals opened fire in a densely populated neighborhood, killing their innocent target and placing surrounding residents in great danger," Police Commissioner John Mueller said in a statement announcing the arrest. "I commend the outstanding work of our police officers, detectives, and law enforcement partners in delivering one of the perpetrators into the Criminal Justice System, where he must now face the consequences of his actions and be held to the maximum sentencing allowed by law. And let me say to the second gunman: you’re next."

Planas was booked on charges including murder and felony criminal possession of a weapon. He was remanded into the custody of the Westchester County Department of Corrections pending his next court appearance.