Drunken Belizean cop beaten in Guatemala

Belizean police officer Ebelio Itza Jr. is back home tonight, perhaps a bit more educated in what it feels like to lie on the receiving end of what appears to be some official brutality. Reports to News 5 indicate that Wednesday evening, Itza, off duty and out of uniform, became drunk at a bar in the Champon area of Guatemala just west of the Belize border post. He then got involved in a fight with a Guatemalan civilian and Guatemalan police were called to the scene. It is at this point that witnesses claim Itza, who was not physically resisting arrest, was handcuffed and beaten by the Guatemalan security officers. Late that evening negotiations by Itza’s superiors at the Benque Viejo police station resulted in his release from jail in Melchor de Mencos.