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Dennys Santana, 28, had been on the run since the out-of-state victim was shot point-blank in the head up the street from Santana's Highland Avenue apartment on Aug. 20, 2020, authorities said.
The victim, Milan Madison, 28, of Hyattsville, Maryland, was pronounced dead at the scene, they said.
A warrant for Santana's arrest was issued in October 2020. The Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Unit had been looking for him ever since.
That changed Tuesday, when Little Ferry Police Officer Joseph Convery stopped a 2007 Honda Civic near the corner of Bergen Turnpike and Valley Road for having tinted windows and a busted brake light, Police Chief James Walters said.
Asked to step out of the vehicle, the driver said he didn't know his passenger, whom he claimed was a friend of his cousin's whom he'd been asked to pick up from a nearby motel, the chief said Wednesday.
Santana, who was in the passenger seat, wasn't wearing his seat belt, "appeared to be nervous and was not making eye contact" as Convery spoke with him, Walters said.
He gave the officer a bogus name and date of birth and said he was staying at the motel but didn't have a room key, the chief said. He also said he didn't know the driver's name -- or his own current address or Social Security number, Walters said.
Lt. John Andronaco patted down Santana and found him carrying multiple credit cards in other people's names, a room key to the motel and a clear plastic container with joint roaches in it, the chief said.
The vehicle was towed and both men were brought to headquarters, where the driver was processed before being released.
Meanwhile, a fingerprint check identified Santana, who'd been staying with his girlfriend at the Capri Inn off Route 46.
Police found five outstanding warrants, including one out of Essex County for homicide.
The warrants were verified with Newark police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Unit. Santana was then sent to Bergen County Jail to await action by those agencies.
Little Ferry police, meanwhile, charged Santana with drug possession and obstruction.
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