Accused Haverstraw shooter arrested in South Carolina for murder

HAVERSTRAW – The 18-year-old man accused of shooting a Pomona man on July 1 was captured in South Carolina, more than 750 miles from the scene of the murder, city police said Saturday.

Yandie Martinez faces first-degree murder charges for shooting Christian Alvarado, 29, while driving across Fairmount Avenue 9 near West Street.

Martinez was arrested at 1:20 p.m. in Piedmont, South Carolina, Haverstaw Police Chief John Gould said. Piedmont is an estimated 771 miles from Haverstraw, a 12-hour drive on Interstate 95, according to a Google mileage calculator.

Martinez had evaded city police and other law enforcement since the shooting. Police issued a statewide bulletin with a wanted poster describing Martinez.

Saturday’s arrest was the result of a collaboration between members of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Fugitive Apprehension Team, the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the FBI’s Columbia Division, Gould said.

Gould did not provide details about how authorities located Martinez, how he was arrested or whether anyone is eligible for the $5,000 reward the city is offering for information leading to Martinez’s capture. He said more information would be announced at a 10 a.m. news conference Monday at Haverstraw City Hall, 1 Rosman Road.

Gould said Alvarado was shot multiple times in the upper body while driving, after which the Pomona resident drove his vehicle into a parked car across from 9 Fairmount Ave. near West Street.

When officers responded to reports of shots fired, they found the injured Alvarado at 4 p.m. on July 1. They helped remove him from the car while paramedics rendered him medical aid.

Alvarado was later pronounced dead at Montefiore-Nyack Hospital.

Gould has not released any information about how police responded to Martinez after the shooting. He said Martinez and Alvarado knew each other, but the reason for the shooting remained speculative.

“We currently have no motive for the murder,” he said at the start of the investigation. “We don’t know what they were arguing about. We’ve heard many theories, but nothing that can be confirmed.”

Martinez is being held without bail pending trial, and if he is in South Carolina, New York would seek his extradition to face charges in Alvarado’s death.

The shooting was the fourth homicide in Rockland in 2024. The others occurred in Stony Point, Spring Valley and Ramapo. Rockland police investigated four homicides in 2023.

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