Southwest
Arizona warns all Americans in danger from Dem DAs as suspect in extradition battle called 'next Ted Bundy'
Critics of the lenient bail policies and woke Democratic prosecutors warn Raad Almansoori, a New York City murder suspect, shows signs of a budding serial killer.
And they don’t want to risk letting him loose for the second time in just a few months.
He is accused of brutally killing a woman in a SoHo hotel, strangling her and crushing her skull with an iron before surveillance video appeared to show him stepping out onto the streets wearing her leggings. He soon arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, where he allegedly stabbed a woman, stole her car and made his way to a suburban McDonald’s, where prosecutors say he stabbed another woman before police arrested him in Scottsdale.
But months before any of that, according to court documents from a dropped case in Florida, he was accused of abducting a female co-worker, sexually assaulting her, choking her and threatening to kill her. Prosecutors dropped most of the charges, and he went free in September with $2,500 and just a grand theft auto case pending.
ARIZONA PROSECUTOR FIRES BACK AT NYC DA BRAGG, DEFENDS DECISION TO REFUSE EXTRADITION FOR VIOLENT SUSPECT
Raad Almansoori, who police say is wearing Denisse Oleas-Arancibia’s leggings after she was killed (NYPD)
After his arrest in Scottsdale, he allegedly told police to “Google the SoHo 54 hotel,” the building where the NYPD alleges he murdered Denisse Oleas-Arancibia. According to authorities, he also claimed to have hurt three more women in Florida.
With Almansoori now being held in a jail in Maricopa County, Arizona, local District Attorney Rachel Mitchell has argued that her Manhattan counterpart Alvin Bragg’s progressive policies and New York laws allowing the release of violent suspects on low or no bail have created a dangerous environment not just in the Big Apple, but around the entire country.
“It was just a couple of weeks ago that some of the illegal immigrants that were in New York City who beat up on police officers were let go,” Mitchell said. “They were flipping the camera off as they walked out of jail, and guess where they ended up?
“Four of them ended up in Maricopa County, and they had to be taken into custody here. I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want this individual getting out and able to victimize more people.”
‘MANIAC’ WHO BRUTALLY MURDERED WOMAN WITH IRON IN NYC HOTEL ARRESTED IN ARIZONA: POLICE
Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, who was killed two weeks ago in a New York City hotel (Fox 5)
This is not the first custody battle involving Almonsoori, who has now been accused of viciously attacking women in at least three states. While he was being held without bail on grand theft auto charges in Sumter County, Florida, in April 2023, he was served with a warrant on more serious charges, including sexual battery and assault, in nearby Orlando, according to a spokesperson for Republican States Attorney Bill Galdson of the 5th Judicial Circuit.
The victim in that case, Leah Palian, says Orlando-based prosecutors from the 9th Judicial Circuit ignored warnings that the murder suspect was a “potential serial killer.”
She faulted prosecutors on Facebook for “callously” reducing the charges against him and told Fox News Digital he reminded her of Ted Bundy, the infamous serial killer who preyed on young women around the country in the 1970s, and Richard Ramirez, the “Night Stalker.”
“I think the Night Stalker, he actually has so much in common. They even kind of look alike to an extent,” she said.
The suspect sought for strangling and bludgeoning a woman found dead in a SoHo hotel has been nabbed in Arizona after he allegedly stabbed two women there, a police source said Tuesday. NYPD detectives want to question Raad Almansoori about the Feb. 8 murder of Denisse Oleas-Arancibia, who was found strangled and struck in the head with an iron inside the SoHo 54 hotel on Watts St. near Sixth Avenue. (Surprise Police Dept./New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
She said the news of Oleas-Arancibia’s murder rattled her because she already suspected he could someday kill someone after her harrowing encounter.
“I saw that statement they put out, and they said they didn’t have enough evidence,” she told Fox News Digital. “To that, I would like to say I don’t think that this is a case of evidence or lack thereof, I think it’s a case of evidence.”
For example, she said, after he allegedly stole her car, he then used his own ID at a pawn shop to sell the bicycle off of her bike rack.
RAGING WOMAN KICKS PUPPIES, LEAVES TEXAS TOURIST BLOODIED IN NYC PET STORE RAMPAGE CAUGHT ON VIDEO
Almansoori allegedly stole her phone, strangled her and claimed she “made the devil come out” before sexually assaulting her, according to court documents, which include graphic depictions. She escaped by asking him to let her use a public restroom, which she locked herself inside while calling 911 for help.
“The one thing that I knew that was holding him in there and was keeping me safe was that he had a bail that he could not afford, but once they dropped it, it was just devastating,” Palian said.
“The one thing that I knew that was holding him in there and was keeping me safe was that he had a bail that he could not afford, but once they dropped it, it was just devastating.”
Court records show 9th Circuit prosecutors dropped all but the car theft charges against Almansoori in June. Ninth Judicial Circuit State’s Attorney Andrew Bain’s office told Fox News Digital Thursday it could not discuss the active case in detail but that investigators had insufficient evidence to support the sex assault charges despite graphic testimony from the victim.
Asked about the feud between Mitchell and Bragg, Palian said she just wants to see Almansoori locked up for as long as possible.
“I actually do not know about other state’s judicial systems. I just know about my state and how it failed me,” she said. “I want whatever is going to keep this man behind bars and is going to keep him off the streets and keep women safe.”
DOORMAN SAVES WOMAN FROM BROAD DAYLIGHT ROBBERY AS ONLOOKERS DO NOTHING AND SUSPECTS RUN AWAY LAUGHING
Bain’s office on Wednesday filed to have Almansoori’s September bond revoked.
“We are disheartened to hear about the tragic events in New York and Arizona, and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones and all the communities impacted,” a spokesperson said.
“I am so livid, to be honest, about them putting out that statement that says we did the best we could basically, when there’s a literal charge in my case that they dropped that I could provide you a plethora of evidence for,” Palian countered.
Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor, said she is done leaving things to chance.
“I want whatever is going to keep this man behind bars and is going to keep him off the streets and keep women safe.”
District Attorney Alvin Bragg explains an evidence video during a press conference Feb. 8, 2024, in New York, where he announced charges for migrants involved in a Times Square brawl with police. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
“Even though there is a homicide in New York, we can guarantee that he is going to stay in custody here,” she told “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning. “Let me be very clear, my heart goes out to the next of kin of the victim in New York, [and] I’m not casting aspersions on the NYPD either … but we have a case here, and we have him in custody.”
John Kelly, a criminal profiler who has interviewed serial killers, agreed with the Florida victim that Almansoori shares traits with a budding serial killer.
This photo provided by the Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Office shows Raad Almansoori, who is a suspect in the bludgeoning death of a woman in a New York City hotel. He was charged Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, in attacks on two women in Arizona’s largest county. (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“You’ve got a live one here, with a few things going on, disassociation being one of them,” he told Fox News Digital. “It looks like he was on his way, was getting started, so it’s a good thing they got him.”
Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector, also warned that Almansoori shared telltale characteristics with other killers and has shown himself to be a danger to the public.
“Arizona can hold him and tell all these other jurisdictions to pound sand while they adjudicate their own case,” he said. “If they convict him and lock him up, Bragg may not see this guy until he’s out of office.”
“Arizona can hold him and tell all these other jurisdictions to pound sand while they adjudicate their own case. If they convict him and lock him up, Bragg may not see this guy until Bragg is out of office.”
Bragg’s office pushed back at Mitchell’s remarks in a statement this week.
“It is deeply disturbing that DA Mitchell is playing political games in a murder investigation,” spokeswoman Emily Tuttle told The Arizona Republic. “In Manhattan, we are serious about New Yorkers’ safety, which is why murders are down 24% and shootings are down 38% since DA Bragg took office.”
She said New York’s murder rate is less than half of Phoenix’s and called the refusal to extradite Almansoori “a slap in the face.”
Rachel Mitchell, a Republican prosecutor from Arizona, listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Sept. 27, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Bloomberg)
According to NYPD crime data from 2000 to 2022, Big Apple murders reached a record low in 2017 at 292 and climbed every year until reaching 488 in 2021. Bragg took office in 2022, when there were 438 murders, up more than 100 from the pre-pandemic total of 319 in 2019.
Robberies, meanwhile, remained near record lows from 2017 to 2021 and spiked by thousands in 2022. The bellwether crime afflicted 17,411 individual victims that year.
Murders are rare in general and typically involve gang or domestic violence, Mauro said.
“That’s a real crime when people are coming into your neighborhood to steal from you,” he said. “Those are the things that people feel and lead to quality-of-life declines.”
Mayor Eric Adams, left, and District Attorney Alvin Bragg, right, listen during a press conference Feb. 8, 2024, in New York, where they announced several charges for migrants involved in a Times Square brawl with police. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
In response to a request for comment, Bragg’s office pointed to a Thursday news briefing in which Bragg defended crime stats under his term in office and accused Mitchell of “grandstanding” and playing “political games.”
“I do not know what they do in Arizona, but here in this county, New York County, we routinely seek and get remands, which means the person’s in custody, in our murder cases,” he said.
He also said the four migrants arrested in Maricopa were not suspects in the NYPD assault case. He added that seven suspects in that crime are now being held in city jails after his office secured a superseding indictment.
“I have never in my career seen a situation where law enforcement officials have refused to extradite someone because they had zero confidence in the ability [or] commitment of the requesting agency to prosecute,” David Gelman, a former New Jersey prosecutor, told Fox News Digital. “It’s really unprecedented.”
Gelman wrote a Feb. 13 op-ed about the issue for Fox News Digital, arguing that Democratic bail reforms allow “extremely dangerous” suspects to roam free.
“This is why blue states and liberal-leaning jurisdictions have the problems they have,” he said Thursday.
Bragg took office with a controversial “Day 1” memo in which he called on prosecutors in his office to seek non-prison punishments for some crimes and to release more suspects from jail until their trials. He has since retreated on some issues.
“In Bragg’s defense, he outlined exactly what he wasn’t going to do — basically his job — before he was elected,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It was all on his website for all to see, but that doesn’t matter.”
“In Bragg’s defense, he outlined exactly what he wasn’t going to do – basically his job – before he was elected.”
Elections have consequences, he added.
“The fact that we are even talking about this goes to show you how nutty things have gotten in the New York state criminal justice system,” Giacalone added. “Was it political and grandstanding? Yes, but is she wrong? That’s the question.”
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Republican senators hit border, touting tougher security and tax cuts, in 2026 kickoff
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Aiming to not only hold but expand their 53-47 majority in November’s midterm elections, top Senate Republicans are showcasing the plummeting rates of border crossings during a stop Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico.
And the group, led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is also highlighting how President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are “putting more money in Americans’ pockets.”
The stop at the border, hosted by One Nation, a nonprofit outside group closely aligned with Thune, is seen as an unofficial kickoff by Senate Republicans ahead of the midterms to tout the sweeping “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” Trump’s signature domestic achievement last year that was passed nearly entirely along party lines in the GOP controlled Congress.
At the event at the border, which was a regular stop for Republicans amid the surge in border crossings during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, the GOP senators are teaming up with members of the National Border Patrol Council. And they are highlighting how the passage of the domestic policy measure “secured transformational border security funding,” according to One Nation.
THUNE PREVIEWS SENATE REPUBLICANS’ MIDTERM MESSAGE
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and fellow Senate Republicans speak to reporters at an event at the nation’s southern border with Mexico, on Jan. 9, 2026. (One Nation)
“This is a remarkable, remarkable difference in just a year,” Thune said at the event. “It’s been an incredible year of progress when it comes to the southern border and the American people are experiencing the benefit of that in the form of having safer streets and safer communities and safer neighborhoods.”
But with Democrats enjoying decisive victories and overperformances in the 2025 elections and in a slew of special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, which were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, the Republican senators are also using Friday’s trip to spotlight the tax cut and energy policy provisions in the bill, which they rebranded as the “Working Families Tax Cut.”
“The Working Families Tax Cut will make buying groceries more affordable for working Americans this year,” the Senate Republicans touted on social media on the eve of the border stop. “Every Democrat voted against it.”
DOUBLING DOWN: TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS FOCUS ON HIGH PRICES ‘ABSOLUTELY GOING TO CONTINUE’
And they also highlighted that “Senate Republicans have worked closely with President Trump to lower energy prices and make life more affordable — and the results speak for themselves.”
Thune, at the border, pointed to the tax cut provisions in the GOP measure, including no tax on tips and overtime and reduced rates for seniors on Social Security, along with “the jobs that are going to be created by the pro-growth policies that we put in place….are going to lead us to a place where the American people are seeing their incomes go up.”
But Democrats see the cost of living as their winning issue heading into the midterms.
“If the Republican agenda actually made life more affordable for working Americans, then they wouldn’t be desperately flailing as families struggle to afford groceries, health care, and housing,” Lauren French, communications director at Senate Majority PAC, the top Senate Democrat-aligned outside group, told Fox News Digital. “Instead of focusing on working people, Trump and Senate Republicans are focused on bringing chaos and instability into our communities.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., holds a political and policy event Friday at the nation’s southern border with Mexico. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Joining Thune, the longtime senator from South Dakota, at the border is Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, number two in Senate Republican leadership.
There are also Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who faces a bruising GOP primary showdown in March against challengers Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt; and Republican Sens. Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida, who were appointed last year and will face voters this November.
HEALTHCARE, ECONOMY AND THE ‘ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’: WELCOME TO THE MIDTERMS
GOP Sens. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who are up for re-election this year, are also on the trip, as are former Rep. Mike Rogers and former Republican National Committee chair Mike Whatley, the GOP Senate candidates in battlegrounds Michigan and North Carolina who are backed by Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“We’re seeing signs already that the economy is starting to tick up and is starting to take hold as the President’s policies are getting in place,” Whatley argued last month in a Fox News Digital interview. “We need to make sure that we have the trade policies, the tax policies, the regulatory policies from this administration that are going to help our small businesses, our manufacturers and our farmers across North Carolina.”
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But Democrats are energized as the midterm year begins, as they continue to keep their focus on the issue of affordability.
“Donald Trump has lost the economy, is losing his mind, and is going to lose the midterms,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin claimed in a recent statement.
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Southwest
Body found during search for missing Texas teen Camila Mendoza Olmos as another teen girl disappears
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A body was found Tuesday evening as authorities in Bexar County, Texas, grapple with a series of disappearances involving teen girls who all went missing within a week.
The body was found during the search for 19-year-old Camila Olmos, though police said it is too early to determine whether the remains belong to her.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference that investigators had “just recently found a body in a field” around 4:40 to 4:45 p.m., adding that the medical examiner will determine both the identity of the body and the cause and manner of death.
The body was found by a joint team of sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents in an area of tall grass near a landscaping business, a few hundred yards from Olmos’ home, according to Salazar.
MISSING CAMILA MENDOZ OLMOS: DASHCAM CAPTURES LAST SIGHTING OF TEXAS TEEN WHO VANISHED CHRISTMAS EVE
Camila Olmos was reported missing on Christmas Eve. (Bexar County Sheriff)
A firearm was recovered near the body, which authorities said had been an item of interest during the search.
Salazar said investigators do not currently suspect murder and noted there were indicators consistent with possible self-harm, though he stressed it is too early to draw conclusions while the scene is still being processed.
Olmos was last seen leaving her home in far northwest Bexar County around 7 a.m. on Dec. 24, authorities said. Her case came as two other girls were reported missing in the area. Fourteen-year-old Sofia Gabriela Peters-Cobos has since been found safe, while 17-year-old Angelique Johnson remains missing, according to police.
Law enforcement has said there is no confirmed connection between the cases.
MISSING CAMILA MENDOZ OLMOS: DASHCAM CAPTURES LAST SIGHTING OF TEXAS TEEN WHO VANISHED CHRISTMAS EVE
Angelique Johnson, from San Antonio, Texas, was reported missing. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
Texas Department of Public Safety said the Clear Alert for Olmos has been discontinued, though authorities urged anyone with information related to the cases or the whereabouts of Angelique Johnson to contact the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
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The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the San Antonio Police Department did not respond immediately to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Former GOP Sen Jon Kyl announces dementia diagnosis, steps away from public life
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Former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia.
Kyl, 83, became one of Arizona’s most prominent Republicans during a career that spanned nearly three decades across both chambers of Congress, including a stint as Senate minority whip.
“I was blessed to represent the people of Arizona in Congress and to have numerous other opportunities to contribute to the political and civic life of our nation and state,” Kyl said in a statement. “However, the time has come for me to withdraw from public life. I have been diagnosed with a neurological disease manifesting as dementia.”
Kyl represented Arizona’s 4th Congressional District in the House from 1987 to 1995 before serving in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2013.
DAVID MARCUS: BEN SASSE IS DYING, BUT HIS LETTER TO AMERICA WILL LIVE FOREVER
Former Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl announced on Tuesday he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
After leaving the Senate, Kyl joined the lobbying firm Covington and Burling, before being appointed in 2018 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey to fill the vacancy caused by the death of former Sen. John McCain.
Kyl held the seat for several months in the Senate before rejoining the firm in 2019, where he helped guide the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The longtime Arizona lawmaker described himself as “a very fortunate man” despite the diagnosis.
FORMER COLORADO SEN. BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL DEAD AT 92
Former Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, left, and Bruce Babbitt, right, former Arizona Republican governor and secretary of the Interior, wave to the crowd as they are recognized during Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s state of the state address Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“My family and I now head down a path filled with moments of joy and increasing difficulties,” he stated. “I am grateful beyond expression for their love and support, in these coming days as in all the days of my life.”
Kyl moved to Arizona as an 18-year-old freshman to attend the University of Arizona, where he met his wife.
The university said Kyl devoted more than two decades to public service, leaving a lasting impact on water policy, national defense and intelligence.
“His leadership, integrity, and commitment to service reflect the highest ideals of public life,” the university said in a statement.
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Former Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., announced he is withdrawing from public life after being diagnosed with dementia. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said Kyl gave “decades of his life” serving Arizona, adding that he’s grateful for the former GOP senator’s “commitment to our state and country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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