Judge Orders Trial for Trio Accused of Gunning Down Puerto Rico Police Colonel in Sting Gone Wrong
A Ponce tribunal has sent three defendants to trial for the shooting death of a veteran police colonel during an undercover firearms buy that turned into an ambush at a warehouse store parking lot.
Judge Orders Trial for Trio Accused of Gunning Down Puerto Rico Police Colonel in Sting Gone Wrong
A magistrate in Ponce has determined that three individuals will face a full jury for the slaying of a senior police officer who was fatally wounded while backing up an undercover colleague during a gun-running investigation.
Judge Carlos Quiñones Capacetti, presiding over the preliminary stage, found sufficient grounds to bind over Efrén Coimbre Lugo, 28; José Ángel Colón Arroyo, 23; and Noé E. Torres Santiago, 25. All three remain in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo on related charges.
The deadly confrontation unfolded on April 10 in the parking area of a Sam's Club in Ponce's Lirios del Sur neighborhood. Prosecutors say the accused plotted together to lure an undercover agent under the pretense of selling two illegally modified automatic weapons, then rob him of the $5,000 purchase price.
When the suspects drew pistols to overpower the officer, backup units moved in. Colonel Eddie Santiago Renta, 49, was hit by bullets as he engaged the assailants. He was rushed to Damas Hospital, where medical staff pronounced him dead.
Santiago Renta was weeks shy of completing 23 years with the Puerto Rico Police and had spent 13 of those years in the Homicide Division. At the time of the incident he was acting as coordinator for the covert operative. His death marked the second line-of-duty fatality for the force in 2026.
The prosecution team—Alberto Flores Bermúdez, José G. Román Martínez, and Yamilette Feliciano—lodged 11 counts against the trio. The accusations span murder in the course of robbery, attempted homicide, aggravated theft, disguise for criminal purposes, firing in a public area, and multiple weapons offenses including possession of an automatic firearm.
Agent Francisco Meléndez Álvarez of the Homicide Division led the investigation.
Secretary of Justice Lourdes L. Gómez Torres previously called the colonel's death "a painful blow" and vowed that the case would be pursued with "seriousness, rigor and diligence."
Court records show the reading of charges is slated for July 2, with jury selection and the opening of evidence expected on August 6.
Reported by El Nuevo Día
Source: Google News CL — Santiago