Plane theft case hearing postponed as jailers fail to escort main suspect

Santo Domingo.- The preliminary hearing against John E. Percival Matos, his wife and two others was postponed for May 7, in the case of an airplane stolen from La Isabela International Airport at Higuero, because the main suspect wasn’t taken to court.

Percival, a major in the Army, wasn’t taken to the Santo Domingo Province 3rd Instruction Court for the hearing morning Monday, while the Najayo jail authorities didn’t provide the reason for his absence.

The officer is accused in the theft of the Super King Air B200 twin engine craft owned by the Puntacana Group, found several days later in a rural airstrip in Venezuela, where it has remained since.