New York City man charged in Pittston Township shooting
Jun. 2—PITTSTON TWP. — State police at Wilkes-Barre have charged Christopher Nelson Carmona with attempting to kill a woman he allegedly shot twice outside a nail salon business Wednesday afternoon.
Carmona, 37, of Manhattan, N.Y., was captured during a massive police manhunt when a trooper spotted him walking about one-half mile from Pittston Crossings on state Route 315.
State police allege Carmona shot a woman twice in her back in the shopping center just before 4 p.m. Carmona fled on foot prompting a large police response that closed Route 315 and an Interstate 81 off-ramp for several hours, according to court records.
Carmona was arrested just before 8:30 p.m. when a trooper encountered him walking north on Route 315 in the area of Cleveland Brothers.
Court records say Carmona was in possession of two pistols, a Chase Visa and American Express credit cards and loose 9mm ammunition consistent with shell casings recovered at the shooting scene.
Investigators recovered a box to a Straight Talk cellular phone and a package of Haines tag-less boxer briefs in the area where the woman was shot.
State police said surveillance footage recorded a man matching the description of Carmona purchasing the items inside Wal Mart using the two credit cards, court records say.
Court records do not identify the woman, who is reportedly in her 20s, nor if the victim is known to Carmona.
Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce at the scene Wednesday afternoon said the woman underwent surgery at a local hospital.
State police allege the woman approached her vehicle and exchanged words with a man. As she turned, she was shot twice in the back with the rounds passing through her body, court records say.
As investigators processed the scene, a pack of Haines boxer briefs was found in the bed of a pickup truck that was parked next to the woman's vehicle and a box to the cellular phone was recovered from a shopping cart. The boxer briefs were purchased at 2:19 p.m. and the cellular phone purchased at 1:58 p.m.
Footage from inside Wal Mart identified the man as a light brown skin male, wearing a light blue shirt, blue flat brim style hat, camouflage shorts and dread-lock style hair purchasing the items and exiting the store at 2:20 p.m. Outside the store, the man pushed a shopping cart in the parking lot checking vehicles before walking toward the nail salon business, according to court records.
State police in court records say footage shows the man running from the nail salon business at about the same time of the shooting.
As investigators recovered the cell phone box from the shopping cart, items reportedly stolen from the woman's car were also found inside the cart.
After Carmona was arrested, investigators recovered the two credit cards used to purchase the boxer briefs and cellular phone.
Carmona allegedly told investigators he purchased shorts but did not have enough money to buy a shirt. Carmona looked at an investigators and said, "I've been in the woods for five hours." He also said, "Hey FBI guy, don't look at me like I just committed a murder. Do your (expletive) homework. She got shot with a 9, I'm carrying a 32 and a 40 and one of them doesn't have bullets," court records say.
Surveillance cameras in the plaza's parking lot recorded Carmona at 1:48 p.m. parking a Honda CRV SUV that had a smashed windshield and damage to the hood. A records check showed the vehicle, with a Pennsylvania registration plate, was involved in a pursuit with New Jersey State Police earlier Wednesday.
Online court records in New York say Carmona served six years in a New York state prison for a robbery conviction in 2011.
Carmona was arraigned overnight by District Judge Alexandra Kokura Kravitz in Pittston on charges of criminal attempt to commit homicide, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and two counts of simple assault. Kokura Kravitz deemed Carmona a flight risk and a danger to society jailing him at the county correctional facility without bail.
