Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Beating Woman During Armed Robbery in Jarabacoa

A robbery in Jarabacoa left a woman beaten and one of the attackers sentenced to 20 years in prison. His accomplice is still on the run.

A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for taking part in an armed robbery in Jarabacoa, La Vega province, in which a woman was knocked off her motorcycle and kicked to take the vehicle. The sentence was handed down to Gustavo Alfonso Pérez del Carmen by the judges of the First Panel Court of Jarabacoa, after they accepted the evidence presented by the Public Prosecutor's Office.

According to the prosecution, the attack happened on April 16, 2024, at about 10:25 p.m., on Calle Principal in the Palo Blanco sector. Hernández was riding on the back of the motorcycle driven by Pérez del Carmen. When they reached the victim, he got off, knocked her down and kicked her in the abdomen and other parts of her body. While she was being attacked, Pérez del Carmen allegedly urged his companion to shoot her so she would hand over the key. The woman managed to run away, but the attackers took her motorcycle.

The assault left the woman with a closed abdominal trauma, injuries to her left leg and a sprained left ankle, according to Forensic Medical Certificate number 2024-201. Security cameras at the scene captured the incident, and the recordings were entered into evidence.

The motorcycle was recovered by the National Police on April 29, 2024, after Hernández abandoned it in El Salto, in Jarabacoa. Pérez del Carmen was arrested in May of that year. According to Noticias SIN, authorities also linked both men to other robberies in which victims were beaten.

The investigation was led by prosecutor Viviana Mena Paulino of the Jarabacoa Prosecutor's Office, and litigating prosecutor Juan Enmanuel Escoto presented the evidence at trial. The judges imposed the sentence for criminal association, violence and aggravated robbery under the Dominican Penal Code. Prosecutors had requested 30 years in prison.