The last of three suspects linked to a violent home invasion and the related death of an elderly American has been put behind bars after nearly two years on the lam.
Jose Antonio Perez Sánchez, alias “El Duende,” was snared March 18 during a joint operation of municipal police and state traffic officers aimed at detecting irregular operation of motor vehicles. He and a female passenger were stopped in a northeast Chapala neighborhood for riding a motorcycle without license tags.
After the two were discovered in possession of illicit drugs, state authorities were called in, leading to the execution of a pending arrest warrant for Perez.
He was pegged as one of three local men who took part in the robbery and brutal beating of Raymond Margolis Levy after storming into his downtown Chapala home on April 22, 2014. The 89-year-old U.S. citizen died from his injuries and complications of chronic disease nine days later.
The other two suspects, Gilberto Ábrego Barragán and Luis Daniel Romero Ríos, were identified through video surveillance equipment operating in the vicinity of the crime scene and promptly captured by police. Under questioning, they fingered Perez as the mastermind of an assault planned to steal large amounts of cash the victim kept in his residence.
All of the presumed perpetrators are now incarcerated in the regional prison located on the Chapala outskirts to face trial on charges of aggravated robbery and homicide.