Tijuana cops torture and charge innocent man, murdered cop case update.

Borderland Beat

(Tijuano´s note: This is an update on the case of the Tijuana Municipal Agent executed a few days ago, the same day the Agent was executed, the Tijuana Police "caught the killer", what happened next with the alleged "killer" is explained in the following article)

Hugo Alfonso Hernandez Flores, accused of the execution of Tijuana Municipal Agent Juan Gualberto Jauregui Ruvalcaba was set free this Saturday´s night, after the Seventh Penal Judge, Rodolfo Lara Pedrin ruled his innocence was proven.

According to Tijuana´s Municipal Safety Agency statements, in the evening of Wednesday May 23rd, Alvarez Flores was walking down the street when Municipal Agents noticed he dropped a bag containing 15 envelopes with of crystal meth. 

"In the preventive interview with the suspect he recognized by himself he had killed someone earlier that day and took the officers to the crime scene and later to the place where he had hidden the weapon used in the crime", this is what was issued as a public statement by the Municipal Agency.


However, Attorney Gabriel Gonzalez Celestino, who took charge of the young man´s case, said the arrest took place at around 8:00 AM that same day-two hours after the murder- in the home of the girlfriend of Hernandez Flores.

"Wednesday morning I was sleeping in my girlfriend´s house. Some officers arrive and take me and then tell me I had committed a crime where I had killed an officer, and I told them I had nothing to do with it. They start hitting and punching me, they handcuff me and throw me from the second floor from a height of about 2-3 meters". This was said by Hugo Alfonso Hernandez Flores in a telephone interview provided minutes after his release.

According to his lawyer, the local agents began arresting young men in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood, where the murder had taken place, in order to find the killer.

"Unfortunately, based on his physical aspect, they arrest another young man and he led them to the detainee(Hernandez Flores), this is the lawyers answer when asked about the agent´s motives to look for Hernandez Flores. First, the officers arrived at the detainee´s mother´s house, then, when they failed finding him there, they drove to his girlfriends house with a picture of him on their hands.

This is how Hernandez was shown to the press by Tijuana´s Police.

According to Hernandez Flores, he has worked in construction since he was 10 years old, and currently works as a construction worker near the "5y10" area in Tijuana. He denied being involved in selling or using drugs.

"They punch me, they put the bag on me, they torture me and get me in the patrol car. They use their teaser on me(electrical discharges) and take me to the crime scene. From there they took me to the Villa Fontana Police precinct, where they put me the bag and torture again, they used their teaser in my belly and they hit my body. They were 5 or 6 officers. They told me I had to blame myself of killing the officer, they told me ´or else we will take you to prison´".

Attorney Gonzalez Celestino also explained the officer´s wife is under custody in the Tijuana Penitentiary along a man identifier as "her lover".

He continued: "The cop´s wife confessed she ordered his murder, she told her lover she would collect three different insurance policies, each worth one million pesos(about 80 thousand USD each). The Judge ruled the officer´s wife told him her lover had sent someone to kill her husband, so there were no elements to charge Hernandez Flores with the homicide.

The Seventh Penal Judge signed the young man´s freedom at 1:27 PM and he was set free from Tijuana´s penitentiary minutes after 9 PM. Now a free man, Hernandez Flores will file a criminal complaint against the agents who arrested him for the crimes of abusing authority, false statements, illegal liberty deprivation, major injuries and coalition of public officials against him.

In doing so his lawyer seeks "For the Public Ministry to arrest the police agents and the municipal judge who ruled the young man had committed the crime and took him to the Public Ministry Agency". According to the lawyer, officers Pablo Quiroz Hernandez and Julio Cesar Oliva Rangel, who used patrol car number 4613, signed the report against his client.

The Municipal Judge who ordered for Hernandez Flores to be transferred for custody under the Public Ministry is Martin Armenta, even thou the young mentiones he was never taken to any Municipal Judge in the three hours he remained under Municipal Police custody.

Hernandez Flores said he didn´t knew the murdered officer or ever being in his home. "If I din´t do it(blame himself), it was going to get ugly for me" The young man said regarding the threats he received by the officers.

After three days in prison and being designated as officer´s Jauregui killer by both mayor Jorge Astiazaran(PRI) himself and the Municipal Public Safety Agency, Hugo Alfonzo Hernandez Flores will "take some time to calm myself down and quit doing stuff, going out to the streets. I´ll be with my family".

Criminal Investigation 316/2015, created after officer Jauregui´s murder is still under development.

The video above shows the moment local police officers get Hernandez Flores out of a patrol truck and deliver him to the Police Precint where, according to Hernandez was tortured with punches and electical discharges.

SOURCE: ZETA Tijuana AFN Tijuana