The Mogán Policia Local have arrested a presumed minor on charges of disobedience, resistance and attacking authority having allegedly taken part in altercations following some sort of fight on Monday night at an apartment complex in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria where unaccompanied minors, legally in the care of the regional government, are being temporarily accommodated. Having been identified by local police the youth was then seen throwing garden furniture from a balcony terrace.
Mogán town councillor, Mencey Navarro, has said that the young man was scheduled to appear before the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office this Tuesday, although his claim to not be of adult age has, it appears, been questioned by social workers responsible for looking after the unaccompanied minors at the apartment complex as well as by some of his peers, according to the councilman.
The detainee, in addition to having been witnessed at the scene throwing multiple objects at local police officers, and agents of the Guardia Civil, had fled from the police at the scene, before being finally apprehended, reported Navarro, who also went on to allege that there had been many other incidents involving minors staying in the tourist complexes of the municipality.
Guardia Civil sources, however, have pointed out and emphasised that almost all of these reported incidents have in fact been limited to scuffles. or altercations between the youths themselves, where Red Cross or social care staff have requested assistance, but without having resulted in any major consequences, though at least one fringe Guardia Civil association have tried to suggest otherwise today.
In yesterday’s case, the Guardia Civil report that they were only at the scene in support of the two Policia Local patrols that had intervened following having been called to attend the complex, according to Navarro, by the social workers of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) tasked with caring for the minors currently accommodated at the Tamanaco apartments, where the altercation took place, ending with the boy’s arrest.
The first call to the Mogán Policia Local was received around 9:40 p.m. reporting that there was a fight between two minors, one of them being the young man later arrested, the councillor said. The Local Police then notified the Canary Islands Emergency Service (SUC) to medically assess the two young people, one of whom was slightly injured, and the other, who was later arrested, fled. He then re-entered the complex once again from the back of the property, and from the sixth floor began to throw some terrace furniture down to the fifth floor.
The Police managed to get him to stop and the SUC ambulance doctor assessed his medical condition, concluding that he did not need treatment or health care. The detainee then later returned to the apartments again and began to throw various objects down to the street, including a sun lounger, a couple of chairs, a parasol and other items of terrace furniture, aimed at the police who were still on site. This led to many youths crowding on to balconies, and one or two others may have joined in the young man’s tantrum display of clear frustration and anger. Local Police and the Civil Guard chose to then leave the scene, in an effort to try to calm things down, says the councillor in his statement today, reported by La Provincia. Presumably to give those responsible for care of the minors an opportunity to diffuse the situation.
Another minor was treated for injuries to his hands, thought to have been self-inflicted, caused by his apparently breaking terrace tiles to throw at the officers. The complex management have indicated to the Local Police that this Tuesday they will proceed to report any damage caused to the apartments themselves.
According to Navarro, two hours later, around 11:45 p.m., Policia Local received a new call from the social care workers because the same young man who is thought to have instigated the situation had again returned to create a third altercation at the apartment complex, in which he allegedly attacked one of the social workers, so police proceeded to arrest him.
