Kenny Panama: Middle Village man arrested 'without incident' in deadly Queens carjacking

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A Middle Village man has been apprehended in connection to a fatal Queens carjacking, authorities have said.

Kenny Panama, 36, faces murder, robbery, assault, criminal mischief, and other charges in connection with the November incident in Jackson Heights.

Panama was taken into custody Friday morning “without incident,” the NYPD said.

The vcitim was playing volleyball with his friends

As per New York Daily News, Mauro Chimbay was playing volleyball with friends in a park at 25th Avenue and 85th Street when a man got out of a nearby BMW, set off the alarm on Chimbay’s white Toyota Highlander SUV, smashed a window, and stole something from the back seat.

The thief then ran back to the waiting BMW, and Chimbay, 43, jumped onto the hood of the getaway car in a desperate bid to stop it before being flung from the vehicle, authorities said.

The victim moved to US from Ecuador

The restaurant worker and dad of two from Ecuador, who moved to the US with his parents and siblings in 1995, was left with severe head trauma in the November 15 incident, police said.

His heartbroken wife, Marjorie Monserrate, 28, demanded justice after the senseless death of “an excellent father.”

The NYPD on Saturday, January 13, did not spell out Panama’s role in the crime and said “the investigation remains ongoing.”

Philadelphia police officer killed while responding to carjacking at airport 

Meaww previously reported that Richard Mendez, a 50-year-old Philadelphia police officer, was fatally shot on Thursday, October 12, 2023, while trying to stop a carjacking at the airport parking garage. He was a veteran of the force for nearly 23 years and the father of a girl.

Mendez and his partner, Raul Ortiz, 60, were off-duty but about to start their work shift at the Philadelphia International Airport when they heard glass breaking, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. As they approached the scene, they saw three or four people breaking into a car in the Terminal D parking garage, according to Interim Philadelphia Police Commissioner John Stanford.

They confronted the suspects, who opened fire on them. Mendez was hit multiple times and Ortiz was wounded in the arm.

Both were taken to different hospitals where Mendez succumbed to his injuries and Ortiz was in stable condition.

"We will continue our search for those responsible and won't stop until all are in custody," Stanford said as per Fox News.