QCOSTARICA – A 28-year-old man was arrested Friday afternoon, suspected of raping and stealing property from two foreign tourists last Saturday, May 7, in the community of Manuel Antonio, Quepos, Puntarenas, reported the Judicial Investigation Agency ( OIJ).
The arrest was made at 3:30 pm on public roads in the community of Paquita, in Quepos, and on Saturday, in conjunction with the Quepos Prosecutor’s Office and a criminal judge from the community, they proceeded to search the home of the suspzed, who is named Zapata Gutiérrez.
During the diligence, they located several electronic items, as well as belongings reported as stolen from the women. Also, clothing worn by the suspect on the day he allegedly committed the crime.
The affected were two foreign tourists. The complaint was filed directly with the Public Ministry, so no details were disclosed about how and the place. The victims stated that the suspect, in addition to sexually abusing them, seized several of their belongings.
This new case of rape against foreigners transcends a day after it was also made public that two US citizens, who were in Costa Rica volunteering, were raped on a beach in the area of Limón,.
Francisco Cordero, deputy director of the Fuerza Publica (national police) in the Caribbean Region, explained that on Monday, May 9, a woman who has a lodging house in Barra de Parismina came to ask how to proceed to file a complaint for a sexual assault.
“The lady described to us that they went out with an acquaintance to a bar and after that they went for a walk on the beach, where they met four other men. In the middle of that, it seems, is where the rape occurs. Given this, we applied the protocol and because the women only spoke English and did not want to delve into the facts with us, we took them on a boat to Siquirres, so that they could file a complaint with the local Prosecutor’s Office,” explained the police chief.
In this case, four individuals with the surnames García Díaz (21 years old), Novoa Calderón (21), Campos Torres (18) and Gómez Vanegas (23) appear as defendants.
They were ordered, as a preliminary measure, to sign in at the Parismina police station every 15 days while the Prosecutor’s Office continues with the investigation.