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Archive for the ‘PUERTO RICO’ Category
Veteran Puerto Rico Police Officer Javier Pagan Cruz Sentenced To Life In Prison After Shooting And Killing Unarmed Man Who Insulted Him - Two Other Offices Charged As Accomplices
April 12th, 2008
SAN JUAN, PR — A Puerto Rican police officer who killed an unarmed man in a shooting captured on videotape was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder.
Javier Pagan Cruz, a 14-year police veteran, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the Aug. 11 shooting, which was widely broadcast on the Internet and local television. Sentencing was scheduled for April 15, judicial spokeswoman Valerie Mercado said.
The shooting occurred in the eastern coastal town of Humacao after the victim, Miguel Caceres Cruz, insulted an officer as police responded to a traffic jam.
During a scuffle that followed, Pagan’s weapon went off and struck him in the leg. The video then shows Pagan wrestling Caceres to the floor and shooting him at least three times — once in the head.
Two officers who witnessed the shooting have been charged as alleged accomplices and their cases are pending.
Read MoreScandals, Like Caught-On-Video Execution-Style Shooting Of Unarmed Man By Police Officer Miguel Caceres, And Poor Pay Send Puerto Rico Cops Packing
October 21st, 2007
SAN JUAN, PURETO RICO - The execution-style shooting caught on video in August shocked Puerto Ricans. But not as much as who pulled the trigger.
Javier Pagan, a member of the Puerto Rico Police Department, is accused of killing Miguel Caceres, an unarmed man with no criminal record. Caceres was face down on the ground, police said, when Pagan put four bullets in his body with a department-issued gun.
An additional 76 officers were charged with crimes ranging from obstruction of justice to murder since the beginning of 2006, and dozens more were arrested by federal agencies. Such scandals have rocked the Puerto Rico Police Department and are cited as one of the reasons it’s hemorrhaging officers. Since January, the 18,000-member department has lost more than 3,000 officers.
Puerto Rico’s loss has become the mainland’s gain.
Read MorePuerto Rico Police Accused Of Corruption. In Other News, Sky Is Blue And Water Is Wet…
October 6th, 2007
MAYAGUEZ, PUERTO RICO - Mistrust of police has been ingrained for years in this bleak coastal town, where a basketball court mural shows a girl running from a baton-wielding officer under the slogan: “To be poor is not a crime.”
So there was some sense of vindication when the FBI arrested 10 officers this summer, accusing them of planting drugs on residents of housing projects and other poor neighborhoods in one of Puerto Rico’s worst police corruption cases.
The reach of the scandal became apparent this week when the local Justice Department recommended throwing out cases against 51 people accused of drug offenses in Mayaguez, a town on Puerto Rico’s western shores.
The police unit in Mayaguez considered residents of housing projects near their precinct as “targets of opportunity,” said Luis Fraticelli, the top FBI official in Puerto Rico, in an interview with The Associated Press.
Read MoreUpdate: 8 Puerto Rican Police Officers Arrested By FBI For Planting Drugs To Frame Suspects
August 24th, 2007
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - FBI agents on Thursday arrested eight police officers accused of planting drugs as fraudulent evidence against residents of housing projects in western Puerto Rico.
A raid on the officers’ precinct in Mayaguez discovered a safe holding drugs that were kept in reserve to frame people, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said at a news conference.
“This is the first phase of a continuing investigation,” she said.
Agents have outstanding arrest warrants for two other officers, FBI spokesman Harry Rodriguez said.
The suspects allegedly used marijuana, cocaine and heroin to frame residents of low-income areas between 2004 and 2007. They also made up elaborate details on arrest and search warrants, Rodriguez said.
The 10 defendants indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury are accused of conspiracy to violate civil rights and drug violations. If convicted, they face 10 years to life in prison, prosecutors said.
Read MoreSecond San Juan Puerto Rico Police Officer Zulma Diaz de Leon Charged In Fatal Shooting Of Unarmed Man
August 21st, 2007
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – A Puerto Rican policewoman accused of watching a fellow officer shoot an unarmed man to death was charged Monday with first-degree murder as an accomplice.
Zulma Diaz de Leon was ordered to stand trial for allegedly failing to intervene in the Aug. 11 killing of Miguel Caceres Cruz in the eastern coastal town of Humacao, which was captured on video and broadcast on TV news and the Internet.
The judge said he did not find enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant for another officer present during the shooting. De Leon posted a $10,000 unsecured bond.
Already charged in the case is Javier Pagan Cruz, a 14-year police veteran who faces one count of first-degree murder.
Read MorePuerto Rico Police Officers Under Investigation By FBI After Shooting And Killing Unarmed Man - Killing Caught On Video And Broadcast On Local News
August 14th, 2007
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - The FBI said Monday it is investigating an incident caught on video showing a policeman wrestling an apparently unarmed man to the ground then shooting him dead.
Agents are interviewing officers and witnesses and are trying to obtain an original copy of the video, FBI spokesman Harry Rodriguez said.
The video, which was broadcast on a local news program, shows an officer standing over a man lying face-down and shooting him at least three times — once in the head.
“We have enough information to start that investigation,” said Puerto Rico’s FBI director Luis Fraticelli. He said the bureau will look into “possible illegal acts involving police brutality or the excessive use of force.”
The shooting occurred Saturday afternoon in Humacao and was filmed by a resident. Police were responding to a traffic jam when the victim, Miguel Caceres Cruz, got into a fight after insulting an officer, according to a police report.
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