By Steve Mosco
A Ridgewood man wanted in connection to the stabbing death of a youth soccer coach for the New York Red Bulls has fled the country to Mexico, the NYPD said.
Orlando Orea, also known as Orlando Gutierrez or Orlando Estevas, bought a one-way ticket on an Aero Mexico flight out of JFK International Airport Tuesday before authorities could put him on a no-fly list, the New York Post reported.
The 32-year-old is a suspect in the fatal stabbing of 25-year-old Michael Jones, who was killed at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday on West 14th Street in Manhattan’s West Village, according to an NYPD spokesman.
Police are investigating whether the stabbing stemmed from a fight at a bar and if it could be a case of mistaken identity, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters Tuesday.
Jones, who is originally from Liverpool, England, had been taken to Bellevue Hospital and died from stab wounds to the neck and torso, police said.
The NYPD released surveillance video Sunday of the suspect, a dark-haired, pony-tailed man in a leather jacket.
