Bronx auto shop worker shot to death in clash after gunman tries to have victim’s car towed away

A suspect has been nabbed for the bizarre death of a Bronx auto shop worker shot after the killer tried to steal the victim’s car by having it towed away, police said Wednesday.

Nasalik Espinosa was arrested Friday in Yonkers and charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery and possession of a loaded gun for the slaying of Aboubacar Toure, cops said.

Toure, 34, died Thursday following a confrontation at the auto body shop he works at near E. 167th St. and Park Ave. in Morrisania.

Espinosa and a woman tried to steal Toure’s car from the auto shop parking lot by hiring a tow truck company to move it, according to cops. The couple told the tow truck company the car was theirs and needed to be moved, a police source said.

Toure was working at the auto shop around 5 p.m. Thursday when the tow truck showed up.

The victim was trying to send the tow truck away when Espinosa and the woman jumped out of a Toyota Camry parked nearby and began arguing with him, an NYPD spokesman said. The confrontation was caught on surveillance video viewed by cops.

As the argument escalated, Espinosa went back to his car and retrieved a gun, although it was not immediately clear if he or the woman shot Toure.

Toure was shot in the hip during the confrontation and the bullet struck an artery. Medics rushed him to Lincoln Hospital but he could not be saved. He lived in Harlem, according to cops.

The shooters jumped back in their Camry and sped off.

But thier escape was caught on surveillance cameras and the make, model and license plate of the car was sent out to neighboring police forces, cops said.

The next day, New York State Troopers and Westchester police located the car in Yonkers. Espinosa and one other person was taken into custody without incident.

A Bronx Criminal Court judge ordered Espinosa held without bail during a brief arraignment Sunday.

Charges against the person arrested with Espinosa were pending Wednesday. The woman he was with at the time of the murder was still being sought, cops said.