Staff Reporter
A MAN dubbed the Rambo of Requena after he shot a householder in a botched robbery then fled to the hills, before he was finally tracked down by anti-terror police, faces up to 60 years in jail.
Pedro Lozano Gimenez, 30, also blasted a Guardia Civil officer with a shotgun as he evaded arrest, a court has heard.
He refused to testify at his trial in Teruel where he is accused of attempted murder, abduction, coercion, breaking and entering, illegal use of a firearm and multiple auto thefts.
Photo: Cordon Press
Gimenez, originally from Sagunto, Valencia, is alleged to have stolen three cars in western Valencia province and in one instance, held a man hostage in a rampage in February 2020.
Prosecutors allege that he went on to burgle a villa in Requena before shooting and wounding the homeowner.
For months after, on-the-run Gimenez would break into unoccupied fincas in the mountains around Requena and Teruel.
That was until local law enforcement agencies called in counter-terrorism police and the Rapid Action Group to track him down.
Finally in June 2020, the Guardia Civil located the suspect in Muniesa.
After a confrontation, Gimenez escaped after wounding an officer with a sawn-off shotgun before carjacking another vehicle and heading to Andorra.
Law enforcement officers stepped up their pursuit of the outlaw, using drones, four-by-four vehicles and even a helicopter which culminated in a gun battle which saw the assailant wounded multiple times.
At his Tereul trial, prosecutor Jorge Piedrafita described the most serious charge as ‘attempted murder’ for his assault on the Guardia Civil agent in pursuit of him.
He is pushing for a 60 year prison sentence as well as €180,000 in compensation.
The defense attorney has told the court his client had no intention of killing the Guardia agents as the shotgun blasts ‘were not aimed at any vital organs’.
He argued instead for a two year sentence for the crime of serious injury, six months for illegal possession of a weapon, and one year for trespassing, on top of a fine of €6 per day for the theft of the cars.
The case continues.
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