The Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife will hold the oral hearing next Wednesday, May 25, against the Chief of the Local Police of Tías, Francisco Domingo Hernández, accused of a crime of attacking agents of the authority and another against road safety. The Prosecutor's Office is asking for four years in prison for both crimes.
The events for which he is being tried date back to January 2008. According to the prosecutor's indictment, Hernández was driving his vehicle along the central Avenue of Tías at around 11:00 p.m., "when he lost control of it" and collided with another vehicle that was "correctly parked."
After the Local Police officers arrived at the scene, the accused fled in his vehicle and was intercepted on the Puerto del Carmen road. According to the prosecutor's account, the Chief of Police got out of the vehicle and "lunged" at one of his officers, "grabbing his shirt and tearing his lapel while urging him with expressions such as I'm going to open a file on you, you've hit the jackpot", abusing his position, according to the Prosecutor's Office. The accused refused to take the breathalyzer test.
Witnesses
The Prosecutor's Office is asking for three years and six months in prison for the crime of attacking agents of the authority, plus disqualification from the position he holds for the same amount of time. For the crime against road safety, he is being asked for seven months in prison plus two years and three months of deprivation for driving vehicles.
Four Local Police officers, the owner of the vehicle that Hernández crashed into, and another witness will testify at the trial. The Popular Party, in opposition in the City Council, took the events to the Court and appeared as a private prosecution, although they later renounced to exercise that right.
The events became known when an internal report from the agents was leaked to the public. The mayor, José Juan Cruz, testified as a witness in the case, who, according to the report, ordered the agents by telephone to remove the keys from the Chief of Police's car and take him home. Hernández has continued to hold his position ever since.
S.G. / ACN Press
