Beating to death at the hands of police

QCOSTARICA — The homicide section of the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) arrested 9 people as suspects of homicide inside a police cell.

Apparently, all would be officers of the Fuerza Publica (national police).

According to the preliminary report, the event had occurred on February 9, when it seems that the victim, Henry Reyes Corrales, 44 years old, was arrested by Fuerza Publica officers and taken to the Pavas Delegation, where minutes later he was declared dead.

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The OIJ report indicates that at the time of the removal of the body, the victim had several blows. The director of the OIJ, Randall Zúñiga, went further, explaining that injuries were possibly caused by a metal pipe striking the victim, an autopsy report will confirm their suspicion.

Zúñiga added that five of the officers allegedly beat the now-deceased man, and four failed to report what happened.

Among the detainees are 7 men and 2 women, all officials of the Ministry of Public Security.

According to reports, in the early hours of February 9, the police arrested Reyes on suspicion of domestic violence.

“He became very violent, I didn’t want to continue arguing and what I did was run outside. He didn’t want me to leave, so he grabbed me at the gate, told me I wasn’t going to leave, and that’s where he attacked me, he bit me. My sister opened the gate for me and I ran out. When I was already at the corner, I called 9-1-1,” the wife told Telenoticias television news.

The report indicates the woman was taken to the hospital, while Reyes was taken to the Pavas police station.

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However, the wife tells a different story, that when she entered the house “Henry was indeed there, and the police took him away in handcuffs. There was no resistance, no aggression, no blows. He came out physically fine, he had no blows, no wounds, nothing. That was all, the police took him away in the police wagon and we knew nothing more.”

According to the OIJ, the police reported that, upon arriving at the cell, Henry did not respond. They called the Red Cross and the paramedics confirmed his death.

“We ask that what happened be clarified to find out the true cause of his death. As my mother said, he did what he did, but it was not for him to die that way and we would like to know why,” demanded the wife.

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The Fuerza Publica officers were identified as: Arias, 36; Artavia, 39; Chinchilla, 34; Hernández, 32; Sánchez, 26; Venegas, and Araya, 25 years old (male officers) and the 2 female officers, Artavia, 26, and Morales, 27.

These people were arrested, because, apparently, they murdered the man on February 9, 2025, in the capital delegation, with a pipe and other objects.

Randall Zúñiga concluded the press conference with, “According to what we have in the investigation and review of security cameras, the subject arrived at the (police) delegation, when some (Fuerza Publica) officers attacked him with a pipe and other tools, which would have caused his death”.

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