San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini said Thursday he would request a special independent prosecutor against Police Lt. José Martínez whom he accused of being a “corrupt cop” who has “falsified documents” to cover up for the fact that he tried to fabricate a criminal case against him in the so-called Betsy case.
“I am warning him to be prepared because this individual deserves an SIP,” Santini said.
The mayor’s remarks were in response to Martínez’s decision to file complaints at the Government Ethics Office and the Police Department against Santini Wednesday, asking the entities to investigate if the mayor broke the law by interfering with a police raid at the Betsy Cafeteria.
Martínez, who worked in Caimito, filed an appeal Thursday with the Police, challenging his transfer to another police station as a result of the incident he had with the mayor.
On Sept. 18, state police, San Juan city officials and officials from several agencies raided several Caimito establishments as part of efforts to curb crime and drugs in the area. Santini was visiting Betsy Cafeteria, one of the establishments raided by police.
While Martínez insisted the cafeteria was one of the businesses included in the list of establishments set to be raided that day, Santini contended that it was not on the list and that the only reason police officers showed up there was to hurt him politically. On that day, the mayor removed the municipal police officers participating in it.
During separate interviews Thursday, it was revealed that Martínez and Santini have different versions of a police report listing the names of the establishments and businesses in Caimito that state police and San Juan municipal police raided on Sept. 18. Santini said he has sworn statements and a police document that does not include Betsy Cafeteria as one of the restaurants that was going to be raided Sept. 18 while Martínez’s document includes it. Both documents list the restaurants that were going to be raided by two different groups of officials, one of which was headed by Martínez.
“Well, he is screwed because now, he will have to prove the veracity of his document versus mine and the sworn testimony of officers, including the person who prepared the document,” Santini said, when told that the documents were different.
In explaining his version of the Sept. 18 incident, the mayor said that he visited Betsy restaurant to see the owner, whom he described as a young, hardworking man. When he arrived at the establishment, he saw a police car at the site and that sometime later, the police raided the place.
Santini said that when he asked about the reason for the raid, he was told by an officer identified as Caraballo that they were there because Martínez had received information that criminal activities were taking place at the cafeteria.
Santini said that when Caraballo contacted Martínez about the tip, he heard Martínez say that he had received the tip from another officer named Guillermo Calixto. When Calixto was asked about the information, the officer denied everything, adding that he has never even heard of Betsy Cafeteria.
Santini said that there is no evidence or complaints charging that criminal activities were taking place at Betsy Cafeteria and that police officers arrived there as part of a plan to hurt him.
Martínez, on the other hand, has insisted that he did not know Santini would be at Betsy Cafeteria the night of the raid and learned about it after Caraballo called him. He said Betsy Cafeteria does have a reputation for criminal activity. “I was doing my job and I was told to lower crime in Caimito and that is what I was doing,” he said. “I have been 29 years in the force and I am an officer at heart.”