Motorcyclists assaulted in the Marquesa had attended a photo shoot: Edomex police did not know where to file a complaint

Eduardo Macías is a university student. Last Saturday, April 9, he went out with some friends, dedicated to making video blogs and influencers in the motorcycle field, to hold a photo shoot in an ejido park called El Zarco, where admission is charged to keep visitors safe, in the area of La Marquesa, in the State of Mexico, however, the things didn't go the way they planned.

In an interview with Infobae Mexico, Eduardo says that day they left early to do the photo shoot for a renowned motorcycle brand. “We arrived at the place, everything was very cool, we arrived they stopped us and charged us to enter, it was going to be more, but the guy at the entrance told us: well, give me 200 (pesos), for the eight we were going,” he says.

He explains that the intention was to have experience in dirt with motorcycles, and that was his first such experience. “We arrived at the place, and when we got to where the photos were going to be and all that, the net was a bit strange, because it was an esplanade in the middle of nowhere, it was easy half an hour, or forty minutes of a dirt road, with stones, puddles, mud, the truth is that the place was super good, because it had rained a day before, then there was puddles of water, mud, everything super good for the shots and recordings, and that day it was very sunny and with very good light.”

He mentions that one of his companions had problems with his motorcycle, so he had to return home, and only seven of the eight were left. “Since we are going back, we stopped in the area, say, family, some cabins, it was all familiar, green grass, very quiet, and there we made as a stop to prepare, they who record, their cameras, their equipment to record the farewells and the way back to the city.”

Macias mentions that another of his friends also had problems with the brakes on his motorcycle, so, when it worked, they waited a while. When they decided to return, it was when something they didn't expect happened, as some men intercepted their way and threatened them with weapons to take cell phones and the recording equipment they carried with them; fortunately, one of the cameras placed on a motorcycle recorded everything that happened, and the video has gone viral on social networks.

He mentions that one of his companions, who is called Buffalo, managed to escape, because he was the one who was going to the front and dodged the car that closed their way. “Since we say let's go, we start, and from there is the video, just like that, Buffalo goes, all the way forward, which is the one who gets the car hit, he already knows it in what dirt is and that, so he could dodge the laminazo, and behind him I came.”

In the video you can see how a black Jetta car comes out of a blade that divides the road, and when motorcyclists reach it, a man comes out of some bushes with his face covered, dressed in black and wearing a white cap, pointing a gun at them.

“The car got us all out of the way, nobody thought maliciously, I think that was one of the mistakes, I saw the car and I said: this guy must be learning to drive or something, and I went on my way, when I saw that the guy is going to back down, because I said: now that he is going to step back, I pass by, but since I saw that he is going to fall back I tried to get him out there, and when I go to the car, that's when I hear the screams and I see the guy coming out of the bushes, pointing at us and loving us with the gun,” explains Macías.

He points out that one of his companions, at that moment, turned around to try to escape, and the man who carried the gun and came out of the bushes, chased him, so he thought of escaping.

“I moved the motorcycle a little further, but the guy who came in the car comes out from the front and puts a madraz* in me with the tip of the gun and says to me: stop cabr*n, throw the motorcycle, and since I had it in front of me, I said: no way. Besides, this guy looked super nervous, he scared me more than the other, because he was intimidating, but he looked sure of what he was doing.”

Eduardo mentions that he got off the motorcycle and only began to hear that the man who had come out of the bushes said that he only wanted cell phones and devices, “I don't know if anyone from there warned, or if they saw us and said: I'm from here, but they came for cell phones and gadgets, and when I saw that, I calmed down a little bit more, but they did make me throw away the motorcycle.”

He explains that his friend, known as Buffalo, who managed to dodge the car when he came out of nowhere, wanted to return because he thought it was a checkpoint or something similar, but when he saw that they started throwing the motorcycles and raising his hands, he realized that it was an assault.

“It strikes towards the entrance where we were charged to enter, to seek help.”

The video shows how the two armed men take away their belongings and then get into the car and flee.

Macias mentions that the most affected of his teammates, with the assault, was one by the name of Jean, who was taken away his photographic equipment and wallet, although his cell phone could keep it, since he was carrying it in the bags of his jacket.

He explains that after the robbery, the criminals asked them to climb the hill, and when they were fleeing they threw two bullets to intimidate them.

The place, which charged them for access, was not responsible for the stolen accessories. “The place is called El Zarco, it is an ejido park that is in the free park of Toluca to Mexico City, in front of the Marquesa, we approached to ask for support, they spoke to their internal security, that they were ejidatarios who got off in a pickup, inside the van came five or six people who were also armed, and they tried to give him I caught up with the vehicle, but they were too late.”

He mentions that the authorities have already contacted them, and that they are only waiting for a response. They have already filed a complaint electronically, because even though they wanted to lift it that day, the police who arrived could not tell them where to go. “We didn't know if it was Toluca or Lerma, and they couldn't tell us well which demarcation the place belonged to.”

Macias says authorities informed them that there were other reports in the area of the same modus operandi, but with different vehicles, including a Chevy and a van, without specifying details.

For its part, the Attorney General's Office of the State of Mexico (FGJedomex), reported last Tuesday, through its social networks, that an investigation folder had been launched based on videos disseminated on social networks, showing the assault and theft of motorcyclists. “This institution will carry out efforts to identify and arrest likely participants,” he reported in a tweet. So far, there have been no reports of the detention of any of the offenders.

Through social networks, some other similar criminal acts have been reported so far this year in the same area.

It was also reported that, after the dissemination of the case, security was increased in the area, with more than 50 elements, 10 patrols, two quads, four horses and three drones from the Mexican State Security Secretariat. These teams are in addition to the surveillance strategy announced at the beginning of March by the agency, which included patrols through tactical drones and a ground deployment.

Through the drone cell, the main accesses and activities carried out in the vicinity of this nature reserve are monitored, in order to prevent crime.

KEEP READING: