The crime against José Mauricio Salazar took place in Zaragoza in 2017. An agent from the Operational Tactical Section (STO) was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018.
The director of the National Civil Police (PNC), Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, publicly apologized to the family of José Mauricio Salazar, 38, murdered by a police company agent on April 24, 2017 in Zaragoza, Freedom Department.
Salazar was deaf and mute, and at the time he was identified as a gang member who, carrying a rifle, had approached the police from a distance of just five meters while they were patrolling the El Saite II area of Zaragoza. .
But an investigation showed that the victim had a drill with him on the day of the crime because he was taking it to his father. The police officers opened fire on José and then lied that he was going to attack them and so they shot him.
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To support their lie, the officers altered the scene, disappeared the drill, and placed a firearm near the body, but the ballistic test ruled out that José had used the weapon (a revolver), as determined during the trial.
Despite the way the crime was committed and the change of scene by the police officers, for Arriaza Chicas this was a “mistake” in the police procedure.
“As the general manager of the @PNCSV, I would like to apologize for the matter publicly and directly to the family, as they suffered great damage from that mistake made in 2017,” Arriaza Chicas said yesterday during a public act in the Delegation. La Libertad Centro Sur, from Santa Tecla, where he was accompanied by the head of that delegation, Andrés Ramírez.
The police director also apologized because a police officer at the time claimed the victim belonged to gangs. “Given that allegation made at the time, I categorically deny that the person mentioned above was a gang member,” he clarified.
Arriaza recalled that “the person responsible for that wrong has already been prosecuted and convicted of the crime of aggravated murder,” referring to the 2018 verdict against José Francisco Ramírez Rodríguez in court proceedings in which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison . .
Ramírez Rodríguez was an agent with the Operational Tactical Section (STO). In that trial, another suspect was acquitted.
Lawyer Idhuca questions police chief
Prior to Arriaza Chicas’s statements, Idhuca lawyer, Arnau Baulenas, stated on his Twitter account: “It was not a police procedure! It was MURDER. Now it turns out that killing humble people is the job of the police? Shame in the head. By the way, the current @Director_PNC was Deputy Director of Specialized in the Past Government ”.
But his response continued. In light of the police chief’s statements that “as @PNCSV we have always shown a full willingness to cooperate with the appropriate authorities to divert responsibilities, especially when a police officer is involved,” said the Idhuca attorney that this is a lie.
“Lie @Director_PNC! The PNC covered up the incident and changed the crime scene to warrant a confrontation. 4 years after the fact they ask for forgiveness. In other cases, such as with Carla Ayala’s, they don’t want to pay compensation for the children. You are not cooperating! Asked the lawyer.