On Sunday night, hours after a Pennsylvania carjacking ended in rape and fatal gunfire, the man wanted in that case was charged in New York with possession of a small amount of marijuana.

But Omar Sharif Cash, 26, not yet identified as the carjacking suspect, was released with a citation.

On Wednesday, New York police again stopped Cash, pulling him over in a black Chevrolet Suburban that had been reported stolen. At that point he was handcuffed, fingerprinted, and held as the man wanted in separate slayings in Philadelphia and Bucks County.

"He's definitely a very violent individual, and we're glad nobody else got hurt," said Lt. Frank Vanore of the Philadelphia Police Department, which had sought Cash since an April 21 slaying.

Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry, calling Cash "clearly a cold-blooded killer," filed homicide, robbery, kidnapping, rape and other charges against the 6-foot-2, 200-pound suspect yesterday.

"It provides a sense of relief to the community that he is behind bars," Henry said.

Cash is accused of the execution-style shooting early Sunday of Edgar Rosas-Gutierrez, 36, of Northeast Philadelphia. Authorities say Cash carjacked Rosas-Gutierrez and a female companion as they left an after-hours club on Castor Avenue shortly before 3:30 a.m.

The woman said Cash had forced Rosas-Gutierrez to drive his black Buick north to the parking lot of the Sunrise Inn in Trevose, where Cash allegedly raped the woman, 41, in the backseat and robbed the couple.

The car continued to Street Road and Route 1, where, the woman said, Cash ordered Rosas-Gutierrez out of the car and into woods. The woman "heard a single gunshot," after which Cash returned to the car alone, a probable-cause affidavit says.

Cash then drove to another parking lot along Street Road and raped the woman at gunpoint outside the car, according to authorities. He then drove to a Comfort Inn in Lawrenceville, N.J., where he checked in to a room and raped the woman again before she escaped, officials said.

Philadelphia police were looking for Cash in connection with the April 21 killing of Muliek Brown, 19, at a Frankford Avenue car wash. Like Rosas-Gutierrez, Brown died of a gunshot to the head.

After Sunday's violence, police interviewed four people who knew Cash, each of whom identified him in surveillance videos. One video was from the lobby of the Comfort Inn; the other was from just before the carjacking at a Wawa near the site of the abduction.

Had Cash been arrested in New York on a more serious charge Sunday, police said, he would have been fingerprinted and identified as a Philadelphia murder suspect.

By Wednesday, investigators had alerted New York police that Cash might be in their city, Philadelphia Homicide Sgt. William T. Britt said.

Cash was stopped in New York on Wednesday for allegedly driving drunk, Henry said.

Police handcuffed Cash, but "while they were securing the vehicle, he gets his arms in front of him and escapes," Britt said. He was captured after a short foot chase.

Cash gave New York police a false name, but Philadelphia police had sent a photo of Cash to New York police. Detectives from Philadelphia and Bucks County went to New York late Wednesday and confirmed that Cash was the man in custody.

He is expected to be returned to face charges in Bucks County after an extradition hearing, Henry said.