PNP identified and arrested 12 involved in attack on downtown Lima premises

The Special Services Unit of the National Police (USE) reported that they have identified the 12 persons who were arrested during the vandalism of the headquarters of the Superior Court of Lima and the National Jury of Elections.

It is known that of the total number of detainees, 10 are adults and two are teenagers aged 16. They were found parts of the computer equipment and other furniture stolen from the Lima Superior Court of Justice, whose doors and windows were vandalized with stones.

Some of those arrested were even seen in the videos and photographs captured by the media and cameras of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.

Those arrested on the night of Tuesday, April 5 were identified as:

1. Miguel Baldeon Palacios (39).

2. Marcos Bejar Meza (27)

3. Betto Cervantes Baltazar (24).

4. Luis Delgado Diaz (22).

6. Sebastian Yovera Lopez (25).

7. Farid Lopez Ames (21).

9. Cristhofer Rea Garcia (19).

10. Jonathan Viguria Campos (16).

11. Luigi Villalobos Sánchez (20).

12. Martin Zorrilla Rondoy (28).

The detainees, at the order of the public prosecutor's office, are held in the Social Affairs Division of the State Security Directorate. It is investigating whether there is any link between the detainees and any political organization.

THEY WOULD HAVE ACTED AS A BAND

After reviewing the videos and photographs of the day, the Police do not rule out that the attacks have been arranged and a certain level of coordination was detected between the attackers. For these reasons, the police investigation could lead to an organized crime case.

The president of the judiciary, Elvia Barrios, after inspecting the premises of the Superior Court of Lima, did not rule out that the attack was planned.

“According to the assessment of what we found, it is undoubtedly that this has been predetermined by some people, it has been previously planned,” he explained to the press.

The newspaper La República obtained images of several of the suspects, “We have, for example, videos in which it is observed that vandals get together in groups and responsibilities are distributed, which confirms that there was coordination,” the police sources explained to the same newspaper.

AN INVESTIGATION WAS LAUNCHED

The Public Prosecutor's Office announced that the current Criminal Prosecutor's Office has launched a preliminary investigation against those responsible for the damage in the Lima Superior Court, the National Elections Jury and the headquarters of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and other affected commercial premises.

The Public Security Department of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima has already received the request from the prosecutor's office to send it the videos of Tuesday, April 5. These are key materials not only to identify perpetrators of vandalism, but also to establish whether they acted in a coordinated and planned manner.

At the moment there have been some coincidences: detainees Betto Cervantes, Luiggi Sánchez, Luis Delgado and Christofer Rea have homes in the Cercado de Lima. In addition, Miguel Baldeón and José Liñán reside in San Juan de Lurigancho.

“As is often the case, everyone denies having participated in the outrages, but when they are shown videos and photographs, where they appear in full action, they remain silent. This is the behavior of these types of violent people. First they deny the facts, then they end up surrendering to the evidence,” police sources told the Peruvian newspaper.

“The most complicated ones are those with computer equipment that they stole from the offices, which indicates that they were not protesters but people who went there to steal. That is why, among other crimes, they are charged with aggravated robbery,” they added.

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