‘What advantages do I have against crime?’, asks police officer Marco Parra, who shot down an assailant in Quito

Every Wednesday, the sergeant of the Police Marco Parra, 37 years old, appears at the offices of the House of Justice of Carcelén, in the north of Quito, as part of the substitute measures he received after having shot down a suspected criminal during an assault It happened on January 15, in a fast food place, in the Cotocollao sector.

Parra has been a police officer for 18 years, 12 of which he has been part of the team of operational investigators of the National Anti-Crime Investigation Unit (UIAD). For his work, he walks the streets dressed in civilian clothes, looking for information about the cases he investigates.

On the day of the events, he was in office. Around 9:00 p.m., he arrived at the restaurant to eat. At that moment two foreign subjects entered the premises with firearms and began to intimidate customers to take their belongings and rob the business.

Parra recounts that one of the antisocials hit him on the head with a pistol until it bled. When the thief paused for a moment and turned his attention elsewhere, the policeman, who was sitting at a table by the wall, moved to fall to the ground. Once on the floor, he leaned his back against the wall and curled into a fetal position to shield the crew weapon from him. He was calculating how to proceed to stop the robbery.

The agent says that the criminal turned his eyes towards him and attacked him again, causing him a left ear injuryfor which he would later have microsurgery that regenerated the torn skin fragment.

“That moment the robber comes towards me pointing the gun at my head, that is how I proceeded to carry out physical protection work, based on the training we have”, describes Parra, two months after the confrontation. He tells that pushed the assailant and shot him to neutralize himthat the antisocial fell wounded and that his accomplice fled.

The sergeant points out that, after the escape, he stood up, put aside the offender’s weapon and asked one of the clients to call ECU911 and request an ambulance. “The fact that a person is on the floor injured is not a happiness for me, since it could have been me,” she says.

The emergency team arrived at the scene, as well as members of the Police, who cordoned off the area. The assailant died. Parra received care in the restaurant, at that very moment was arrested and transferred to the Flagrancia Unit, where hours later the Prosecutor’s Office prosecuted him for the alleged homicide crimefor which a 30-day fiscal instruction was initiated.

When the term of the investigation was coming to an end, the Prosecutor’s Office asked the judge of the case to establish a day and time for a hearing of reformulation of chargeswhich took place on February 24.

During this procedure, the prosecutor of the Persons and Guarantees Unit No. 1 of the House of Justice Carcelén, Alejandro Alemán, changed the criminal type of homicide to that of overreach in the performance of an act of service, which is typified in article 293 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code (COIP). This offense is punishable by sentence of ten to thirteen years in prison.

The German prosecutor supported his request with certificates from the National Police that show that On the day of the incident, Parra was on duty. In addition, he presented reconstruction reports and ballistic tests, among other elements.

The reformulation began a new tax instruction for another 30 days, which began on February 24. The Prosecutor’s Office clarified in a statement that at this time “will determine whether or not there are merits to accuse the uniformed officer, respecting due process”.

Likewise, the Public Ministry explained that among the proceedings that will be carried out is a proficiency in proper and proportional use of forcewhich will allow establishing “if the actions of the uniformed officer were framed in what the Law determines.”

Parra’s lawyer, Gustavo Gualle, insists that the agent acted following the protocols and legal regulations on the progressive use of force, in relation to the level of threat and aggressiveness of the assailants against the people who were in the eating place.

“A series of tests were generated that allow us to demonstrate that Marco Parra’s actions are appropriate, that they are legitimate and that they comply with the three main principles of the use of force: legality, necessity and proportionality”, justifies Gualle, who is part of the Department of Institutional Defense of the National Police.

The defense points out that they are not opposed to an investigation to clarify the facts. What they reject is that the Prosecutor’s Office has proceeded with a fiscal investigation and not with a previous investigation, which is a pre-trial phase, since in the second case, the lawyer points out, they would have had up to 90 days to present elements that demonstrate the actions of the police.

Gualle indicates that, currently, in the Department of Institutional Defense there are 155 cases of police prosecuted for different crimes: overreach, manslaughter, murder, acts of hate, torture.

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Parra expresses that going through this process has been complicated. “What kind of guarantee do I have when fulfilling my work, with my legal duty? I have a double function, I comply with and enforce the legal regulations that govern the entire territory, but What advantages do I have against crime, to be able to act as a police server And to be able to take care of the citizens if at this moment a judicial via crucis comes to me?”.

At the gates of the end of the term of the second fiscal instruction, next March 24, the police and his defense They expect the Prosecutor’s Office to issue an abstention opinion.

In the meantime, friends and family call for a cycle ride as a show of support for Sgt. The activity will take place on Sunday March 20, at 08:00, in Tulcán, where Parra is from. (I)