Two more arrested in killing of Officer Richard Mendez, placing all remaining suspects in custody, police say

Police have arrested two more men who they believe were involved in the airport parking lot shooting that left one Philadelphia police officer dead and a second injured last week — meaning that all remaining suspects in the crime have been taken into custody, authorities said Wednesday.

Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford said at a City Hall news conference that authorities had apprehended Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, 21, of Pennsauken, and Alexander Batista-Polanco, 21, of Camden, over the last two days, and that both men would be charged with murder and related crimes in the killing of Officer Richard Mendez and the wounding of Officer Raul Ortiz.

Peña-Fernandez was arrested early Wednesday morning in Bellmawr, Camden County, said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. Batista-Polanco also was taken into custody in New Jersey, on Tuesday, but police did not say where. Batista-Polanco was then taken by police to two different jurisdictions where he was facing warrants — including in Scranton, where he was charged for his role in an April burglary, according to court documents.

Authorities declined to provide details about how Peña-Fernandez and Batista-Polanco knew each other, except to say they believe both had taken part in the attempted car theft at the Terminal D garage last Thursday before someone in their group began shooting at police. Both men were expected to be extradited to Philadelphia in the coming days, where they will be charged alongside a third coconspirator who was arrested earlier this week.

A fourth suspect was killed during the crime, police said — likely by the same person who shot Mendez and Ortiz as the officers tried to stop the group from stealing a car.

Authorities declined on Wednesday to identify the suspected shooter, but reiterated that they believe the gunman fired while standing behind Mendez and Ortiz.

Stanford called the latest arrests “bittersweet,” saying they delivered a measure of justice — but in a crime he wished had never happened.

“Someone asked the other day, ‘What was the message for those that are responsible?’ and I said that we would get you, and we did just that,” he said.

City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada, reading a statement from Mendez’s family, said they were “relieved and grateful,” and they praised Mendez’s former colleagues for continuing to work in the wake of his killing.

“There is some solace in knowing that justice will be carried out,” they said, according to Lozada.

The arrests came two days after police announced the first arrest in the case. Yobranny Martinez Fernandez, 18, also of Camden, was taken into custody Monday in Cherry Hill for his alleged involvement in the shooting. Vanore said Fernandez was being extradited to Philadelphia on Thursday to be arraigned on charges including murder.

Police have said Fernandez, Peña-Fernandez, Batista-Polanco, and another man — 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran — were trying to steal a car from the airport parking garage around 11 p.m. last Thursday when Mendez and Ortiz heard glass breaking and sought to intervene. The two officers were about to start their shift, police said, but when they responded to the potential break-in, at least one member of the group began shooting at them.

Mendez was struck four times, police said, and Ortiz was shot in the arm. Both were hospitalized, and Mendez was declared dead that night.

Duran, of Camden, was also shot, police said. He was then picked up by his coconspirators and driven to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was dropped off and later pronounced dead.

Mendez’s killing devastated a department that Stanford said had already been reeling from the unrelated deaths of two commanders in recent weeks — one by suicide, the other due to a medical emergency.

The police union went on to offer a reward approaching $300,000 for information that led to any arrests in Mendez’s killing — more than 10 times the typical reward in a homicide case.

And although police said Wednesday that they believe all of the suspects in the shooting were now in custody, they did not rule out the possibility of additional charges for people who may have helped the men try to evade apprehension. Vanore noted that the stolen SUV the men used to flee the scene was later found burned beside a road, and said someone may have helped the men rent hotel rooms in names other than their own.

“We still have more investigation to do,” Vanore said.

As for the prosecution of the three men in custody, Joanne Pescatore, chief of homicide for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said Wednesday she felt confident in the strength of the forensic evidence investigators had collected — even though the case lacked video footage of the shooting. Officials said there were no surveillance cameras in the parking garage where the crime took place.

“I’m very confident in this particular case,” Pescatore said. “They all knew each other, they were together, we have proof of that.”

Mendez was the 10th law enforcement officer to be shot in the city this year, and the second slain, following the fatal on-duty shooting of Temple University Police Officer Christopher Fitzgerald in February.

Mendez, of Somerton, spent most of his two-decade career in North Philadelphia’s 25th District, which spans some of the city’s most violent and impoverished neighborhoods and includes the highest concentration of Latino residents.

Lozada, the councilmember whose district includes that area, was friends with Mendez and said he was a respected beat cop who often acted as a liaison between the Spanish-speaking community and the department.

“He wanted to serve in a community where he understood the language and the culture,” Lozada said. “He was known for going beyond the badge, always having a positive attitude.”

Mendez had earned his master’s degree and had plans to become a college professor after retiring from the force.

Lozada said Wednesday the family was grateful for the arrests in the case.

A funeral service for Mendez is scheduled for Tuesday.