killing of police captain at La Caleta, by airport

Fernandez

Bronze
Jan 4, 2002
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I was informed that the police chief investigating a robbery of funds from the Airport of Las Americas (Intl) was murdered yesterday in a shoot out during an investigation of the case involving individuals around the Caleta area.
I was also informed of 4 more who were killed on Charles de Gaulle, apparently they were aprehended and appeared dead later on.
Any truth to these?
Thanks.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Early press reports say that the five were involved in a shooting after some sort of robbery at the airport....

HB
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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Video of the 3 thiefs in Charles de Gaulle.

Strong Images:
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Bronxboy

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Jul 11, 2007
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Tough images indeed.

May god have mercy on their young souls!!!!
 

Skippy1

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Feb 21, 2008
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DR police seem not to be trained too well in paramedics?

Not sure from the report if these guys are now dead or alive?

Tough images for sure!

Skippy1
 

GringoCArlos

Retired Ussername
Jan 9, 2002
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Wait a minute, Skippy. A Police Lt. Colonel was murdered in Boca Chica in this shootout, and you seriously expect that there would be any treatment after their beatings OR survivors once his fellow police officers later caught up with them?

Another question - who's running UPS at the airport so poorly that someone (anyone) could walk out of their offices at the airport with $400k in cash???
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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GringoCarlos the incident in Boca Chica had nothing to do with the Incident in the video that happened in CHarles De Gaulle Avenue.

And yes the 3 were killed after they took them away. Police brutality at its best.
 

Skippy1

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Feb 21, 2008
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Wait a minute, Skippy. A Police Lt. Colonel was murdered in Boca Chica in this shootout, and you seriously expect that there would be any treatment after their beatings OR survivors once his fellow police officers later caught up with them?

Another question - who's running UPS at the airport so poorly that someone (anyone) could walk out of their offices at the airport with $400k in cash???


Woah Woah.......!!!!
A police officer was killed in the shoot out yes I heard that and I am saddened to the core that he lost his life in the line of duty serving the people. I am also concerned that from the pictures these guys were alive and entitled to medical attention, remember they are innocent until proved guilty in Law. Maybe if it was a child of yours and you later found they were innocent and caught in crossfire would you not question the treatment???.

Chances are they were guilty but they have families and deserve humane treatment otherwise you just fuel the fire and revenge killings will escalate an already bad situation.

Police have overwhelming power and they do not need to kill every time they are confronted by criminals. The British police force dont even carry guns (normally). You cant teach people not to be violent if you use violence on them when you want to force your will....its a self perpetuating spiral into anarchy.

Skippy1
 

J D Sauser

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Nov 20, 2004
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On one side we'd like to see murderers, rapists, assailants and brutal thief's rather being shot dead on spot than arrested and freed again a little later, but then, on the other side, there are laws which are meant to protect those which may not be guilty and these can not be respected if we follow suite to above urges.
Sure, somebody shots at me or kills somebody close to me and I get his hide in return... I'd drag what's left of him thru the mud and couldn't feel a bit inhumane about it and I expect whom ever I'd shot at or who's buddy I killed to treat me none better if they'd get me. But then, that's when we approach anarchy or the rule of the strongest.

I don't know really which side(s) to take here... I can understand the police and them being nervous in a hostile environment... but then, may God forbid they'd just tossed the wrong folks into that pickup truck... because if there still was a breath of life in them, guilty or not, they will won't make it.

I think the message to US and most everybody is to consciously stay not just out but AWAY from trouble, since it would not seem an enjoyable experience to be mistaken guilty of any like this in this country!

... J-D.
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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I would hazard to guees that a good precentage of the 27 people they arrested will be doing a very, very long time behind bars.

I feel very bad for this coronel, but can't understand why he would go with little backup to recoup the money. The theif's tia appears the one to have caused the ruckus by claiming she was being attacked by the coronel - what a sprite old codger,, I imagine they wil throw away the key for her.

La República - PN arresta 27 personas asesinato coronel, incluído uno habría confesado le disparó
 

Skippy1

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Feb 21, 2008
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The development of the LAW has evolved over centuries and it has taken many years to get to the point we are at now.
There are harsh punishments for criminals and when we impose those penalites we have to be absolutly certain that the people are punish for the crime/s they commit.
Many an old lag in prison would tell you "I was set up framed I am innocent" but admit he was guilty as sin to his mates.
The process is complex to make sure the criminals are correctly punished.
A police officer is not a judge or a jury, he is a servant of the people and conducts his duties with the consent of the people. To see what happens when you police without the consent of the people go to Iraq.

There is a powerful argument regarding police violence and it is as follows.
If a small time criminal gets caught, he can surrender peacefully and say well yes I did it and its a fair cop.........or if he thinks he is going to get badly beaten or worse maybe he will decide to fight and take an officers life to save his own.
So how do you solve that equation.
Similar to the death penalty argument. would a child molester kill his victim afterwards to improve the chances of not being detected if he knew he would be hanged if caught. or would he let them go and hope they could not recognise him again to give evidence?
Nothing is straight forward I know but what I do know is if you want someone to stop shouting at you ....you dont shout back saying shut up.

Skippy1
 

GringoCArlos

Retired Ussername
Jan 9, 2002
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My bad, I thought the two were connected. As soon as I saw that the video was straight out of "Sucesos" I clicked it off. I was stupid, and assumed it was people on the run from the event in Boca Chica.

Law has evolved in many places. Dominican congressmen (oops, SORRY Chris, congressPEOPLE) spend all of their time making more and more laws (and judges creating their own versions of same), but in too many circumstances here in the DR, street law is used, whether at the hands of citizens or policemen.

On the other hand, maybe the police colonel was looking for his own retirement plan, and that would explain why so few went with him to recover such a huge sum of $$$.

My other question remains - why would UPS have US$400k of their own cash in their offices, without proper measures to protect it? They aren't doing that much daily business to justify that amount of cash onhand.
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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The coronel made a lot of mistakes, went to the Tia's house to recover the money dressed as a civilian, in a civilian vehicle and just saying by mouth that he was a coronel, the woman obviously thought he was trying to assault her and went out the backdoor yelling help, me estan atracando!! If the coronel showed at least something that would identified him, maybe just maybe this whole mess would have been avoided.
 

suarezn

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Feb 3, 2002
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First off as someone already mentioned these two incidents have nothing to do with each other, so please don't mix them up.

Second I see a very dangerous trend developing whereas anyone can yell "Thief..." to anyone and before that person gets a chance to explain he's beaten and left for dead. It happened to a Canadian citizen a while back in Santo Domingo. I understand people are sick of thieves and police doing nothing, but this is a very dangerous path to go down.

Regarding the Charles de Gaulle incident I commend the police chief for firing and calling for the prosecution of the cops who killed these "thieves". They were obviously murdered as you can see them alive and talking in the video and a little bit later they are dead. Note that I have no sympathy for thieves, murderers, etc... but cops are supposed to be a little bit more educated than that and in this case THEY are the murderers.

I won't comment much on the Boca Chica incident as it is not yet clear exactly what happened there. The version given by the residents says that the police officer was killed when the lady started yelling she was being robbed (again back to the issue of alarmist people). They say the police then showed up and started killing people they found around the area and that the four civilians killed had nothing to do with the death of the police officer. A couple of them were supposedly just walking home when they were killed and I can believe that as I've seen it happen before with my own eyes.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
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Let me be blunt here:

The DR's Police commit many acts of injustice if we take under consideration the rights of those criminals that are pursuit and ultimately netted.

Now the reality:

Back in the days shooting a Police officer was the same as digging your own final resting place. Only the worst of the worst would dare do such things. It only took a Police officer to show up in the vicinity of the crime to have the crooks hands up and lined up for arrest. Now even generals are targeted by the lowest common denominator crooks.

If you think being a policeman in the DR is the same as other countries, think again.
Most Police officers in the DR don't have bullet resistance protection. They operate under gunned compared to the armed to the teeth crooks. Many get pay peanuts for putting their lives at risk day in, day out.

If you're a cop in the DR and you got a hold of the same born to be criminals that would not shy away to aim their guns at you, you wouldn’t spare a second to do the same thing they do.

The actions the colonel took, where in fact common given the way they try to recuperate stolen money where no violence was used to take it.
The person that took the money was in fact riding along with the colonel to make sure they got the correct residence and person holding the cash.
The actions of the woman were not the normal way, since she was saving a huge amount of cash; which she knew the guy didn't have anything to show for its origin...

The actions of those trying to act as vigilantes were the direct result of the people that lost their lives that day. They shouldn't be taking the job of police or judges to fire on somebody. The Colonel was shot in the head at close range without a chance to defend himself. If I was the backup I would have shot every single person on sight, given that who could assure the surviving officers where the next bullet was going to come from?
The actions that the witnesses provide point to that fact: The officers ordered those they came in direct contact with to hit the ground and failure to do so pose a grave threat to their safety. When you got a situation where somebody is shot having identified themselves as police, then the situation becomes critical...

If indeed it was revenge as provided by the witnesses, then the old lady would have been the first target of the remaining officers...

About the other 3 that got shot and later shot again, good work! These guys were the same ones killing without a problem when trying to rob people in plain daylight.

If they put them in jail, they just will commit even bigger crimes when let out. Think that as time passed while they're incarcerated, things became even more expensive and therefore they would need to graduate to bigger crimes in order to pay for their way of life...

A thieve will kill given the chance if he happens to be about to get caught. Treat thieves as a murderer not a "petty criminal".

The smart criminal gives himself up via the church in the DR and keep a super low profile for a long time after release from jail. Those that continue their criminal ways eventually will go six feet under. Those who get a job and work for their food and stuff keep a foot away from the hole...

I feel more and only sorry for the Colonel who lost his life, while serving his fellow Dominicans with honor...
 

ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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I feel more and only sorry for the Colonel who lost his life, while serving his fellow Dominicans with honor...

What proof do you have that the colonel indeed wanted to report that money to the police instead of keeping it for himself, because if you go ALONE, without a badge, without a uniform and in his private vehicle, not a police one, obviously there's something wrong in that picture.
 

PICHARDO

One Dominican at a time, please!
May 15, 2003
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Santiago de Los 30 Caballeros
He didn't go alone and identified himself as a police officer as well, as stated by the witnesses. What prove to we have he didn't go along? The resulting shooting of the civilians was done by whom? The Colonel was shot as he attempted to remove himself and the other police officers from a deteriorating situation. He was shot as he sat on his car in movement! The mob believed the words of the old woman calling them crooks!