Santiago.- Judge Yerixa Cabral, of the Judicial Office of Permanent Attention Services of the judicial district of Santiago, imposed different coercive measures against eleven agents of the National Police accused of participating in the death of five men during an alleged exchange of gunfire that occurred on September 10 in the La Barranquita sector of this city.
The magistrate ordered three months of preventive detention against sergeants Sócrates Fidel Félix Félix, Hairo Mateo Morillo, and the private José Octavio Jiménez Peña, as well as corporal Yohandy Encarnación.
Meanwhile, Major Álvaro Paredes Paniagua, Captain José Gómez Rodríguez, Second Lieutenant Domingo de los Santos Vargas, Corporal Geyser Francisco Álvarez Rodríguez, Private Adrián Miguel Villalona Pineda, and Major Hansel Michel Cuevas Carrasco, must pay an economic guarantee of one million pesos, appear periodically before the authorities and are prohibited from leaving the country.
The Public Ministry, represented by the head of the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca), Wilson Camacho, had requested 18 months of preventive detention and that the case be declared complex, alleging the seriousness of the events and the agents’ attempt to eliminate evidence.
You can also read: Recess of coercion hearing against 11 police officers
According to the record, the police arrived in three vehicles at the establishment where the victims were located and, without a word, opened fire, causing the death of Edward Bernardo Peña Rodríguez, Carlos Enrique Guzmán Navarro (alias Charly or Charli Chasc), José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, Elvis Antonio Martínez Rodríguez and Julio Alberto Gómez. The last two were inside a hairdressing salon located on Olímpica Avenue, where the shooting took place.
The indictment details that the agents allegedly removed the DVRs from the security cameras of the premises and nearby businesses, as well as confiscating the cell phones of the people who recorded the event, in order to conceal evidence and obstruct the investigation.
The process of determining the measure of coercion extended for almost eight hours, amid strong security measures and extensive media coverage.
Upon concluding the hearing, Deputy Attorney Wilson Camacho valued the court’s decision and reiterated the Public Ministry’s commitment to take the case to its ultimate consequences.
For his part, lawyer Esteban Pérez, representative of the family of José Vladimir Valerio Estévez, expressed his disagreement with the decision and announced that they do not rule out appealing.
Meanwhile, lawyer Juan Carlos Báez Peralta, defender of Major Álvaro Paredes Paniagua, considered the decision “fair and balanced,” although jurist Carlos Balcácer criticized the ruling and questioned the Public Ministry’s actions during the process.
The victims’ families avoided making statements after the hearing concluded, visibly affected by the court’s decision.
