Damages caused for the violent acts were valued at more than COP $ 708,000,000.
The Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, accompanied by the Director of the National Police, General Jorge Luis Vargas Valencia; and the Governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García Bustos, announced the arrest and prosecution of four people investigated for their alleged responsibility in acts of vandalism that took place on May 3 in San Miguel tollbooth in Sibaté (Cundinamarca).
“From this place, the place that was vandalized, we want to tell the public opinion that we have arrested and prosecuted the four people allegedly responsible for setting fire and looting a tollbooth in Sibaté road that leads to Fusagasugá” stated the Attorney General.
Thanks to the plenty of evidence and videos of the security cameras, it was possible to establish that the defendants arrived at the place, intimidated the personnel, set fire to the booths and stole several highly valued items from the ticket booths.
Those allegedly responsible for the fire and looting were arrested in a joint action by the CTI of the Office of the Attorney General and Sijin- National Police in Sibaté.
A prosecutor appointed to the Sectional Office in Cundinamarca charged them with aggravated theft, arson, and aggravated damage to someone else’s property. The detainees did not plead guilty to the charges and a judge imposed house arrest.
The decision was pronounced against Andrés Felipe Pérez Landinez, Jefferson Steven Martínez Prieto, Omar Fernando Farías Bello and Johan Esteban Zúñiga Muñoz.
“It is important to say, and this is a message for those who use the assets to commit criminal acts, that during the hearings the seizure of three vehicles, including a van used for committing acts of vandalism, was approved. The Office of the Attorney General reiterates that assets that are used to commit crimes will be affected by the mechanisms established by law”, stated the Attorney General Barbosa.
In this sense, the precautionary measures such as suspension of power to alienate a property will be requested, “that is, these assets may not be sold or negotiated and measures to seize assets will be requested before a judge and the Office of the Attorney General will manage those assets until a judicial decision is pronounced” explained the Attorney General.
Likewise, it is reiterated that precautionary measures such as suspension of power to alienate property and a seizure process on properties will also be used when needed, in order for SAE to administer these assets. When the action is declared by the judge to be proper, the value of the assets will be distributed between the Executive and Judicial Branches.
“This is a concrete case of prompt results, just a few days after the facts were committed. It cannot be allowed, from any point of view, to pretend through crime and vandalization to think that the prosecution in Colombia has stopped and that the Office of the Attorney General will not act”, warned the Attorney General.
When we speak, results follow.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out the criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004