Progreso Police Officer involved in gender violence case gets fired

Progreso, Yucatán, (December 04, 2021).- Rafael Alberto Flores Bastarrechea, claimed to have been unfairly fired on Monday, November 29th, after an altercation he had with the officer María Chan, who denounced him with his superiors for the alleged lack of responsibility during working hours.

However, the corporation reported that after a series of internal problems they had to terminate their services, as Flores Bastarrachea had threatened Officer Chan.

Obdulio Sánchez Mena, head of the Ecological Police, argued against Rafael Flores Bastarrachea’s version, reporting that he arrived from the Municipal Police in 2019, after a series of internal problems with the head of the Directorate of Public Safety and Traffic (DSPT), Emilio Caamal Gutiérrez

“This agent is always involved in problems when he was sent to a service. At the time, due to lack of personnel, he was given an ATV to operate in Chuburná and many complaints came to our base from citizens, both by phone and through social networks. One of those problems was that he tried to intimidate a tourist ”, specified Yuyo Sánchez Mena.

The straw that broke the camel’s back, said the commander, was with the aforementioned problem, in which the now former ecological officer committed gender violence against his partner María Chan, whom he verbally disrespected and threatened with beating her up if she accused him with higher commanding officers.

“On that occasion, he was sent an arrest ticket that he did not accept, he chose to leave his work for a couple of days and his respective administrative records were made. The matter was exposed to the municipal comptroller, Juan Fuentes Aguilar, who notified Flores he was terminated,” concluded the head of the Ecological Police.

“When they accused me, I admitted that I threatened my colleague María Chan for accusing me several times. I remember that they put an arrest on me, until, at the beginning of this week, our commander called me and asked me if I was available. 

I came to the Municipal Palace to speak with Irma Yáñez, from Human Resources, but the dismissal was merely verbal. When I met with the Legal Representative, they were giving me 12 thousand pesos, of which 11 thousand were only for worker’s rights, such as Christmas bonuses and vacations, so I did not accept the deal, I will fight them in ” said Flores Bastarrechea.