Dominican Police admit blunder in raid after bank heist

Santo Domingo.- The National Police on Mon. admitted that its officers who took part in a raid against several alleged bank robbers weren’t accompanied by a prosecutor, because they regularly surround the search area if it is determined that there is an actively sought individual, in which the warrant that authorizes them is issued.

“It’s customary within its procedures to inform the Public Prosecutor’s Office and to surround homes or premises where there are wanted persons and in what is approved the authorization to make the acquiescence by judge,” said Police spokesman Frank Félix Durán.

“Look, it’s a matter of procedure that we use, and that is very often seen, the information comes from one moment to another, the intelligence is given, the information flows, in that case, as in most of our cases, the information arrives, it is confirmed, it is determined that the individual is there, the public ministerial is notified and, in coordination with them, the house is surrounded, until the public ministry obtains the order, that is what happened there.”

He said the group of officers’ actions, in which five of them were inured by gunfire, and one alleged assailant killed is being investigated.

Office of the Prosecutor

“The prosecutors found out via the media. The Justice Ministry did not participate. There was no presence of prosecutors,” said a source quoted by local media. They said for that reason the Santo Domingo Este Office of the Prosecutor refused to receive the money that was recovered during the raid.