He nearly got away with murder.

A Manhattan man who allegedly mowed down his girlfriend 16 years ago in a drunken rampage and fled to Ecuador has finally been caught, because he sneaked back into the country and got arrested in Minnesota, The Post has learned.

José Aguilar, 48, was busted there Oct. 3 for forcible touching, police sources said.

When Minnesota cops ran his fingerprints, the NYPD case came up, and they notified the Cold Case Squad that the long-sought suspect was in their custody.

Aguilar was extradited to New York, and has been charged with murder, sources said.

In 1996, he allegedly ran over Maria Guayllasca, then 28, at 7:05 a.m. following an alcohol-fueled fight in their apartment on West 119th Street in Harlem.