All he did was strike up a conversation with a girl at a Harlem hip-hop party – but that innocent chat cost a young man his life, police sources said yesterday.
Almost exactly a year after Jarvis “Tito” Bradford, 21, was shot dead at a McDonald’s takeout window, cops on Sunday arrested Thomas Brown as the alleged triggerman, the sources said.
Brown, 21, of The Bronx, had also been at the June 19, 2005, bash at the Cherry Lounge on 128th Street – which featured rapper Damon Dash – and got angry when Bradford spoke to a female friend of his and pal Giovanni Alvarado, 25, the sources said.
Bradford, of Jersey City, was at the party with his brother and some friends.
“He didn’t do anything wrong,” one law-enforcement source said of Bradford.
“And he didn’t deserve what happened.” It was nearly closing time at the basketball-themed event when Brown and Alvarado exchanged angry words with Bradford, the sources said. Outside the lounge at 4:10 a.m., Brown and Alvarado bumped into Bradford and an altercation ensued, the sources said.
The pair and the girl hopped into Alvarado’s van, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Bradford, his brother and friends went to the McDonald’s at 125th Street and Broadway.
Inside the van, a still-incensed Brown was itching to confront Bradford.
“I want to get him,” Brown said, according to the sources.
Alvarado allegedly drove him to the restaurant and Brown got out and shot Bradford, then hopped back in the van, the sources said.
On Nov. 24, a cop stopped Alvarado for a traffic violation and recalled that a van by that description was being sought in connection with a homicide, sources said.
Alvarado was arrested and arraigned the next day on second-degree murder and criminal facilitation charges.
His next court date is June 30.