A Bucks County jail guard is accused of murder in the death of a New York City man
Aaron Mayer will face second-degree murder charge in Queens, where police say he helped fatally beat a man in October during an argument over a fender bender.
A corrections officer at the Bucks County jail has been arrested in connection with a murder police say he helped commit in New York City in October, authorities said Monday.
Aaron Mayer, 25, was taken into custody at the jail during his shift on Saturday, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Mayer remained in custody Monday, awaiting extradition to New York by U.S. Marshals to face charges of second-degree murder.
A spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney declined to comment Monday, saying no information about Mayer’s case was publicly available.
Law enforcement sources knowledgeable about the case said Monday that Mayer was wanted in connection with a fatal beating that had been spurred by a fender bender in the Astoria section of Queens on Oct. 20.
The victim in that attack, Francis Ortega, 50, rear-ended a Nissan sedan occupied by Zahir Williams, Mayer and another man, the sources said. While checking the damage to their vehicle, the three got into an argument with Ortega, and began attacking him, according to an affidavit of probable cause for Williams’ arrest.
Ortega was knocked to the ground during the assault, and Williams stomped on him and slammed his head into the passenger door of the BMW that Ortega had been driving, the affidavit said. Another man — it was unclear which — dragged Ortega into the road, where Williams ran him over after circling the block in the BMW, according to the document.
Ortega was pronounced dead not long after at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Williams, 24, was arrested Nov. 9 and charged with murder. A $3,500 reward has been offered for information about his accomplices.