Policeman Julio Ramon Rodriguez-Rivera

Julio Ramon Rodriguez-Rivera

Policeman Julio Rodriguez-Rivera was slain when he stopped to assist a disabled motorist.

At approximately 11:00pm, Officer Rodriguez-Rivera and his partner were patrolling highway PR-3 near Tropical Beach in Naguabo when the noticed a stalled vehicle with a motorist having mechanical problems. As the officers assisted them several armed men came out of the woods and ambushed the officers. Officer Rodriguez-Rivera pulled his weapon to repel the attack and was shot and killed. His partner was handcuffed into a tree and his uniform and badge was stolen. The attackers were deterred away by a pair of undercover officers that discovered the officers patrol car on the side of the road.

The motorist was a decoy for a radical group, the Boricua Popular Army, whose intent was to liberate Puerto Rico from the United States using violence and oppression.

On September 23rd, 2005, FBI agents led a raid at a home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, where they surrounded the house of the group's former leader. The subject was subsequently killed in a shootout with FBI agents.