Two Venezuelans prosecuted for murder of ride-hailing driver in Bogotá
Assad El Hawari and Armas Pérez were captured after killing Juan Pablo Vargas, 26, during a robbery in southern Bogotá on 22 July.
Perpetrators of ride-hailing driver's murder arrested in El Codito
Two Venezuelan citizens were prosecuted and sent to prison for the murder of Juan Pablo Vargas Becerra, a 26-year-old ride-hailing platform driver, which occurred on 22 July in the El Codito neighbourhood, south Bogotá, noticiascaracol.com reported.
The defendants were identified as Assad Kenay Assad El Hawari Márquez and Snaider José Armas Pérez. According to the investigation, both men boarded Vargas while he was providing transport services, took possession of the vehicle—a grey Kia Picanto—through violence and intimidation, and then transported him to a sector of El Codito, where they shot him multiple times while he was in a defenceless state.
The evidence gathered indicates that the victim repeatedly asked them to let him get out of the car and take the vehicle and his belongings without harming him. "No, please, don't do anything to me (...) Don't do anything to me, I'm getting out now, don't do anything to me," are the words Vargas directed at his attackers, according to the record. The alleged murderers shot him anyway; they even did so a second time when he was already wounded and fleeing.
After taking possession of the vehicle, the two men attempted to escape, but the car overturned some distance from the crime scene. They were arrested in flagrante delicto following activation of a lockdown plan and one of the firearms allegedly used in the act was seized from them.
A prosecutor from the Life Unit of the Bogotá Sectional office charged them with the crimes of murder, aggravated theft, and manufacture, trafficking, carrying or possession of firearms, accessories, parts or ammunition, all constituting aggravated conduct.
Vargas Becerra was from Belén, Boyacá, the father of a girl and the fourth of five siblings. Only three days before his death he had begun working as a ride-hailing platform driver to earn a living and gather money to renew his driving licence. One day before the crime he participated in a procession in honour of the Virgin of Carmel, patroness of drivers, transporters and police officers in Colombia.
The case generated widespread public attention due to the brutality of the crime and to the video recording in which the victim can be heard begging for his life whilst cooperating with his attackers.
Source: Google News CO — Bogotá