Two U.S. Marshals are coming under fire after slamming their van into a woman’s car, pointing a gun at her and then, after realizing she was recording them, taking off like nothing ever happened, proving they are held to even lesser standards in Puerto Rico.
Raquel Vélez, who recorded the video, says to make matters worse, the incident took place in front of a federal prison. She wasted no time in reporting the U.S. Marshals (one of them apparently is known as “Agent Rivera”) and highlighted how she could not believe they pointed a firearm at her when she had done nothing wrong.
Velez insists she never got the help she needed despite [__filing a report.__](http://www.metro.pr/noticias/alguaciles-federales-chocan-y-apuntan-con-pistola-a-ciudadana/pGXpaC!M0HbKROKS6O2U/)
“You shouldn’t have done that! You crashed into my car, you are federal agents and then you point a gun at me!” Vélez is heard screaming in the video footage.
“You crash into my car and on top of that you are taking off?” She adds as she records the Marshals’ license plate seconds before they speed back into traffic.
After being questioned about what took place, both U.S. Marshals lied and told a very different story to their higher-ups. Puerto Rican news outlet [__NoticiasPRTV.com__](http://noticiasprtv.com/alguaciles-federales-que-amenazaron-a-mujer-con-arma-en-la-cara-no-llevaran-presos-y-mintieron-a-la-policia-sobre-el-accidente-vea-esta-historia/) looked into the matter and reported that both law enforcement officials said it was Vélez who struck them and that they sped off because they were supposedly transporting 19 inmates in the van to the prison.
Thanks to Vélez’s video that she recorded with her Tablet, the Department of Justice has launched an investigation in the case. And the Marshals’ direct supervisor – Rosa Emilia Rodríguez – may lose her job for covering up what happened.
Or they might just ship her off to another country as they are known to do.
“They were transporting 19 inmates? Oh please!” Vélez told the outlet. “They got out of the van and even left it wide open to come and attack me.”
“My car is wrecked in the back. How is it possible that I was the one who crashed into them? Here is a photo showing how they were very calm and fixed on coming after me. Where did they leave the inmates?”
Velez says what ticked them off is that she was recording them the entire time.
“I forget that when they say they are federal agents, people shake in fear and justify their behavior.”
This, of course, is not the first time PINAC writes on cops crashing into people’s car and either leaving the scene of the accident or blaming the victim(s) for the crash.
In November [__PINAC reported__ ](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/11/15/florida-highway-patrol-trooper-lies-fender-bender-striking-drivers-car/)on Francis François – a Miami native who says he stopped to let traffic clear when all of a sudden a Florida Highway Patrol trooper in a black unmarked SUV struck his car.
François says he was speechless when Sergeant Mark Shoaff, not only damaged his car, but went the extra mile to cover up the accident and then blamed him for it.
And then there is the case PINAC reported on [__last week__](http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2016/01/24/award-winning-washington-cop-runs-red-light-and-crashes-into-teen-then-cites-teen-for-dui-after-teen-admitted-to-smoking-pot-two-hours-earlier/) of Spokane police officer Seth Killian, who struck a 16-year-old’s car but managed to charge him with a DUI and blamed him for the accident.
He even admitted to being at fault in the moments after the crash.
“I screwed up, man,” a distraught Killian is heard telling another officer in a conversation captured on his body cam.
Like PINAC founder, publisher and editor-in-chief Carlos Miller told Playboy magazine in an article last month, cops are frequent liars, which is why they despise cameras and individuals video recording them.
“Cops make up shit all the time,” Miller is quoted saying in [__Playboy magazine’s article__](http://www.playboy.com/articles/a-new-breed-of-activists-are-turning-cameras-on-the-police) on cop watchers. “They lie to protect their jobs. They lie to protect fellow officers. They lie under oath. That’s why they hate cameras. For the longest time, they were able to go back to the office and type up an arrest report and spin what happened. And by and large, juries would believe them. Now that most people have cell phone cameras, it’s a lot more difficult for them to lie. They say we’re interfering with their investigations. No, we’re not. We’re interfering with their ability to lie. What we’re really doing is forcing cops to tell the truth.”
The video is below. Before forewarned the Puerto Rican news station will force you to sit through a 30-second ad before viewing it.
https://youtu.be/ZJo8BZ1Kppk
