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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A man who was arrested after he allegedly flashed a shotgun at a witness in a Hazleton homicide says he could never have committed the crime because he was at home with his mother at the time.</p><p>Ramon Cruz-Maldonado, 27, of East Mine Street, Hazleton, is charged with two felony counts of witness intimidation and one count of hindering apprehension in the investigation into the June 11 fatal shooting of 33-year-old Jorge Marrero.</p><p>Police allege Rafael Mora-Polanco, 27, killed Marrero in an attack that ended with Mora-Polanco pursuing Marrero into the streets and shooting him multiple times. Mora-Polanco, of Alter Street, Hazleton, was charged with criminal homicide and is set to be tried Oct. 31.</p><p>During the course of the investigation, police say Mora-Polanco&#8217;s sister, Hilda Mora-Polanco, told a witness a shotgun waited for anyone who testified against her brother. The witness was told to bring a cellphone to a truck, where Cruz-Maldonado was allegedly waiting with the weapon in his lap.</p><p>&#8220;This is for whoever testifies against (Mora-Polanco),&#8221; Cruz-Maldonado allegedly said, according to the criminal complaint.</p><p>Joanna Bryn Smith, Cruz-Maldonado&#8217;s court-appointed attorney, wrote Tuesday that her client intends to provide an alibi that he was at his family&#8217;s home with his mother at the time the crime was alleged to have been committed. His mother, Magali Maldonado, will support that claim, the document says.</p><p>Cruz-Maldonado is also seeking to suppress a witness&#8217; identification of him in a photograph shown to her by a member of the Hazleton Police Department. Bryn Smith argues only one photo &#8212; depicting Cruz-Maldonado &#8212; was shown to the witness, who was asked to identify the suspect.</p><p>&#8220;The defendant avers that the way in which this identification was obtained is extremely suggestive in nature and far more prejudicial than probative,&#8221; she wrote. A hearing was requested on the motion to suppress.</p><p>Cruz-Maldonado remains jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility awaiting trial.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Cruz-Maldonado </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_Ramon-Cruz-Maldonado-7-24-15-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Cruz-Maldonado </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Man charged with witness intimidation in Hazleton homicide offers alibi