Remand in custody for "Macho" over attempted murder of SWAT sergeant in Santiago
A Santiago court ordered remand in custody for Jhovanny Mets Cruz, alias "Macho", accused of opening fire on a police sergeant in 2023.
"Macho" faces remand in custody after fleeing country during trial
The Fourth Collegiate Court of Santiago changed the measure of restraint against Jhovanny de Jesús Mets Cruz, alias "Macho", to remand in custody, according to diariolibre.com. The accused faces charges of attempted murder against police sergeant Christopher Almánzar García, of the SWAT unit, in an incident recorded on 7 May 2023 in the El Ejido sector.
The decision was adopted after the court declared Mets Cruz in default for failing to appear at the main trial scheduled for 20 May. The accused had left the country while judicial proceedings were still ongoing, a circumstance that the court considered decisive in imposing the most restrictive measure.
Sergeant Almánzar García suffered fractures to his femur and left knee as a consequence of the shooting attack. In the same incident, his nephew, Jeison Willian Almánzar Núñez, who attempted to assist him, was wounded in the left leg.
Defence lawyer Russell Aracena explained that the court understood there were no grounds for applying a measure other than remand in custody given that his client had left the country. Aracena announced that he would request a review of the measure at the appropriate procedural moment.
The court itself set 17 January for a review of the remand in custody, a date on which the main trial of the case will also be heard.
Prior to this change, the measures of restraint in force against Mets Cruz included periodic reporting, a prohibition on leaving the country, and an order to keep away from the victims.
Mets Cruz is also facing a separate proceeding linked to the death of Daivy Carlos Abreu Quezada, a refuse-collection truck driver who died in April of this year. The hearing on the measure of restraint related to that case was scheduled for Tuesday, and is being processed independently of the case involving the attack on the police officer.
Source: Google News CL — Santiago