On Wednesday, authorities in Mérida’s San Vicente Oriente neighborhood detained two individuals suspected of fraud.
According to reports, an elderly woman residing in the Polígono Itzimná area had received a phone call days earlier informing her of a four-million-peso prize win. However, to claim the prize, she was instructed to pay 120,000 pesos.
On Tuesday, the woman was visited at her home by two men demanding 50 percent of the required amount. Complying, she handed over 60,000 pesos. The following day, the same individuals returned to collect the remaining sum and presented the woman with a suitcase. Upon inspection, she discovered it filled with nothing but newspaper clippings, prompting her to scream.
Her screams caught the attention of a neighbor who, upon learning of the incident, chased the fleeing suspects in his Jetta as they sped away in a Nissan March.
During the pursuit, the suspects turned onto 29th Street, where they encountered a Suzuki Swift head-on between the 10th and 8th cross streets of San Vicente Oriente. The narrow road forced the fraudsters to reduce speed, allowing the pursuing neighbor to rear-end them, causing their vehicle to crash into a Federal Electricity Commission pole, resulting in injuries.
Witnesses claim both suspects, bloodied, exited the vehicle and fled on foot but were apprehended at a grocery store on the main avenue of Polígono 108. They were subsequently transported to a hospital under police custody by ambulances from the Public Security Secretariat (SSP).
The incident concluded with four vehicles involved in the traffic event: the March carrying the extortionists, the Jetta driven by the neighbor, a Suzuki Swift, and a driving school vehicle that sustained minor damage and chose to leave the scene.
