Interpol 'red notice' helps nab New Year's hit and run killer in Honduras, NYPD says

Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News on Aug 7, 2026

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NEW YORK — An Interpol “red notice” led to the arrest in Honduras of a Queens fugitive wanted in the New Year’s Day hit and run that killed one man and badly injured another, the Daily News has learned.

Jonathan Barbecho, 31, was returned back to the city this week and was ordered held without bail at his Thursday arraignment after pleading not guilty, authorities said.

Barbecho was indicted on a slew of charges including manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and driving without a license.

The NYPD said that just past 4:05 a.m. on Jan. 1, Barbecho, behind the wheel of a white SUV, slammed into the victims, both 25, as he drove south on 102nd St. near 37th Ave.

Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua died at the scene.

His friend, Luis Paco Romero, was rushed by medics to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition but survived.

“He is in very, very critical condition,” Maria Quito, 40, Romero’s sister-in-law, told a Daily News reporter during a vigil held at the scene that night. “He’s in a coma. … We’re praying for the best.”

Romero remains on a ventilator in a rehab center, according to a police source.

Romero works in construction, as did Cargua, and they both hail from Alausi, Ecuador, where the surviving victim has a 7-year-old son, his sister-in-law said.

Cargua is survived by his mother, brother and sister, who all live in Ecuador, his uncle told The News.

“[My nephew] came to America for a better life,” he said. “He was a hardworking man. He was a good son, a good brother and a good nephew.

“We are so sad because we lost a good man.”

The suspect, it turns out, is also from Ecuador, where police sources said he fled at some point after driving off from the crime scene.

Ecuador does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, but the NYPD asked Interpol to issue a “red notice,” which serves as an international arrest warrant, “in the hope that one day the defendant will leave Ecuador,” one source said.

“Sure enough, the defendant attempted to enter Honduras illegally and was arrested,” the source added.

When Honduran authorities saw the red notice, U.S. Marshals were notified and the suspect was extradited to Houston. Investigators with the office of the Queens District Attorney then traveled to Houston and brought the suspect back to Queens.

Barbecho’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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