Hispanic charged with threatening murder witness

Luis Christopher Jimenez, 23, has been arrested on a warrant after an officer saw him leaving a variety store. He was charged with intimidating a witness, tampering with a witness and first-degree criminal mischief. Held in lieu of $300,000 bond, Jimenez was arraigned at state Superior Court in Stamford. Lt. James Matheny said that Stamford police were contacted by the Correction Department's Special Intelligence Unit and informed that Jimenez had a recent conversation with a defendant in the Denny "Pun" Alcantara murder case. Matheny said Jimenez admitted that he had just stomped a car belonging to the boyfriend of a 24-year-old woman who had testified in the case. Matheny said that Jimenez is a good friend of one defendant. After checking with the witness, police determined that the car was scratched and had its hood caved in, Matheny said. Alcantara was fatally shot during a robbery in November 2009. The woman who police said was threatened by Jimenez was the prosecution's star witness and offered enough testimony about the murder to enable a judge to rule that the state's murder charges against the defendants would stand until trial or a plea agreement was made. The car was vandalized four days after the woman testified, Matheny said.