Police have arrested four men believed to be responsible for the beating they suffered in the early hours of last Sunday, November 9, by two off-duty officers who were walking through the center of Alcalá de Henares. The attackers charged at the police officers from behind, shouting “you are not on duty now, you damned rats”. The first suspect was arrested on the same day and in the following ten days the other three suspects were arrested. Two of them have been locked up in provisional prison, while the other two, arrested yesterday Tuesday, are waiting to be brought to justice. All are under investigation for the crimes of injury and assault on the police.
The police officers were returning from a dinner with other colleagues from the city’s Operational Response Group (GOR). This unit is responsible for citizen safety tasks and provides a rapid response to high-incidence crimes, such as policing drug retail areas or supporting in risk situations. “They attacked them from behind and without any possibility of defense,” the Madrid Police Headquarters said on Tuesday.
One of the officers has lost three teeth and can no longer see in one eye, while the other officer has a broken collarbone. Two other officers walking in front of them, but at a distance, could do nothing to prevent the attack. After the attack they took care of treating them in the first minutes and taking them to hospital.
The seriousness of what happened led the Police to launch “a specific investigation” in which the four suspects were identified, located and arrested. The first was arrested on November 9, the second on November 14 and the last two last Tuesday. All the arrests were made in Alcalá de Henares, except one of the last, which occurred in the La Latina neighborhood of Madrid.
The Federal Police Union (UFP), to which the injured officers belong, once again showed all its support to the police officers who suffered this “cowardly attack” and congratulated the police officers who managed to arrest the four suspects. “We cannot normalize the fact that every week there are police officers assaulted on and off duty,” said Carlos Quero, a UFP spokesman. “The National Police is adapting. Now the institutions must also adapt”, he added.
The attack in Alcalá de Henares came just hours after an officer was seriously injured after being shot during an anti-drug operation in Seville. Police unions are calling for “judicial and police measures” that urgently protect officers, as well as for them to be declared a “risk profession”.
