The New York City Police Department has arrested a man accused of killing former drug lord Alberto “Alpo” Martinez.
According to an NYPD source familiar with the case, accused gunman Shakeem Parker, 27, held a months-long grudge against the well-known drug lord following a summer road rage encounter. Martinez, who was known for driving aggressively close to pedestrians, collided with Parker on his motorcycle, the source said.
Martinez was murdered on Oct. 31, 2021, in Harlem. Just before 3:30 a.m., the NYPD was dispatched to Frederick Douglass Boulevard near West 147th Street.
A dark, red pickup truck collided with parked vehicles. The driver, Martinez, was shot five times in the chest through the truck window. He continued driving the truck for approximately four blocks before colliding with another vehicle.
Emergency medical personnel transported him to NYC Health + Hospitals Harlem, but it was too late.
Martinez rose to prominence in the 1980s as a result of his murderous tendencies and mountains of drugs and money. He was a subject of multitude of rap lyrics and the film Paid in Full.
Martinez was in the witness protection program, and thus his identification bears the name Abraham Rodriguez and a Lewiston, Maine address. He had been assigned a new identity following his 2015 release from a Colorado prison. He had been serving a sentence of more than two decades for his involvement in 14 murders.
He was also widely believed to have turned on his former associates in order to avert a possible life sentence.
Rather than remaining hidden, he was frequently spotted in Harlem, and there may have been no shortage of people who desired his demise.
The source said the motive for the killing was almost “disappointing” in light of Martinez’s history.
Source: FOX5 + NY Daily News
