NY Fugitive Wanted In Fatal Long Island Shooting Arrested In FL: SCPD

ST. PETE BEACH, FL — A Long Island man wanted for gunning down another man outside a New York bar last month was caught Saturday morning in St. Pete Beach, according to a Suffolk County Police Department news release.

Joseph Scalafani, 30, was taken into custody by deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office just before 7 a.m. at County Park Beach, 4700 Gulf Blvd.

He’ll be returned to Suffolk County, where he faces a murder charge, following an extradition hearing in Florida.

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Scalafani is accused of fatally shooting 30-year-old Alex Smith in a bar parking lot in the early morning hours of May 20, police said.

He shot Smith during a confrontation outside Linsa Torr’s Place at 373 Neighborhood Road in Mastic Beach around 2 a.m., the agency said. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two men grew up together and trained at the same boxing gym, Smith’s parents told Shirley-Mastic Patch. Scalafani was also in the wedding party of Smith’s older brother, boxing champ Joseph Smith, Jr.