THE BRONX — A man caught by a surveillance camera shooting and pistol-whipping a customer inside a Claremont bodega has been caught in South Carolina a month-and-a-half after the attack, police said.
Rondell Baker, 32, was found on Schoolhouse Road in Columbia, SC, and brought back to New York on Sept. 12, where he was arraigned on an attempted murder charge and ordered held without bail, according to court records.
Baker was caught on camera arguing with the victim, a 37-year-old man whose name was not released, inside a deli at 1439 Webster Ave. near 170th Street about 1:10 a.m. on Aug. 2, according to the NYPD.
The victim spat in Baker's face, prompting him to pull out a gun and unleash a fusillade of bullets at point-blank range, according to sources and surveillance footage released by police.
Baker then calmly walked up to the victim, whipped him with the gun and left the bodega, according to surveillance video and the NYPD.
The victim was taken to Lincoln hospital in critical condition, police said. Police did not have an update on his condition Tuesday morning.
Baker has been arrested 11 times on narcotics charges, false impersonation and theft of service, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
He was arrested in November 2013 for marijuana possession, court records show. His license was suspended for six months, he was given a $75 fine and released, records show.
He is due back in court on Sept. 18, according to court records.
