Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Anita Shell said Arias is charged in the attempted murder of Franco Openiano, who was shot five times in front of his Muldoon-area apartment building in December 1995. Openiano told authorities who shot him.
Police say two men ambushed Openiano after he left his home and got into his car. The incident involved a dispute over a woman, police said.
Openiano saw the two men approaching and reached for a rifle he kept in the back seat for protection. One of the men hit him on the head with a chrome handgun.
Openiano staggered near the front entrance of his apartment building before the men shot him and fled, police said.
Preston Clark was charged in March 1996 with attempted murder and was released on bail. In July 1996, Clark was killed in a gang-related drive-by shooting, according to news reports.
Arias was also charged but skipped out of state, police said.
He was arrested outside a restaurant in Spring Township and is jailed at Berks County Prison.
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