2 officers sought in death of youth allegedly beaten in police custody

Authorities are seeking two missing Guadalajara police officers in connection with the death of a young man the officers had detained and has since died.

According to accounts by his family, Luis Daniel Córdoba Becerra, 18, was picked up in the Morelos neighborhood by the two officers in their patrol car on November 26. While Córdoba was in the car, the officers beat him and then took him outside the city, where they abandoned him with serious injuries near the highway to Chapala.

A passerby found Córdoba and called authorities. The youth was taken by ambulance to a hospital in the city, where he remained in serious condition until his death on December 6.

The victim sustained several broken bones and kidney damage from the attack and suffered a stroke and a heart attack while hospitalized. His family, who had reported him missing when he did not return home, was reunited with him in the hospital on December 4 once they were able to track down his whereabouts.

The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation into the officers after Córdoba’s death.

Guadalajara Mayor Ismael del Toro said that the city was working with the Attorney General to locate the officers. A warrant was issued for their arrest after they did not report for work once they learned that they were being investigated. Del Toro said the city had delivered all corresponding evidence in the case.

“We understand that the behavior of the officers, viewed in any light, was irregular,” del Toro said. “They did not make a report [of the incident]; there was no communication, not by radio, nor to authorities … that is to say, they acted irregularly.”

While generally supporting the city’s police officers, del Toro also said he was committed to doing everything to punish those responsible and bring justice for Córdoba’s family.

“We cannot permit these types of bad actions in the police department,” he said.

Sources: El Universal (sp), Infobae (sp)