Family sues police for death of husband

A year ago twenty-five year old Cruz Enrique Barerra Alvarenga was killed during an incident outside a bar in Salvapan in the Cayo District, reportedly by police constable Javier Alvarez. This week a preliminary inquiry began before Belmopan Magistrate, Robert Ordonez. A civil suit has been filed by Barerra’s family against Alvarez, the offices of the police commissioner and the Attorney General. The family contends that all three were involved in the wrongful death of the family man. In a story News Five ran last year about the shooting, villagers, who witnessed the incident, said P.C. Alvarez shot Barerra, who was unarmed, in the head. According to villagers, Barerra was trying to stop a dispute that had erupted outside of a bar when he was killed. Subsequently P.C. Alvarez was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Today, Alvarez remains interdicted from duty and is receiving half pay. According to Attorney General Dickie Bradley, if Magistrate Ordonez finds that there is a sufficient case against the accused, the government will then make a decision to review the case to see whether they will forward it to the Supreme Court. This was not the first time that P.C. Alvarez has been in the news. Viewers may recall that less than six months before Barerra’s shooting, the police constable was caught on videotape beating a prisoner after he broke loose from an escort on the way to Magistrate’s Court in Belize City.