The agent of the Local Police of Sant Josep who also works as a pirate VTC driver, Mateo Beltrán Carbonellhas been denounced for a controversial incident that occurred in the early hours of November 11. Beltrán, partner of Susi Pereyra, a businesswoman widely known on the island for combining legal and illegal transport services with VTC vehicles, appeared, always according to two reports held by La Voz de Ibiza, in the early hours of the morning, uniformed and in the police vehicle at the offices of Avant Link, Uber ‘s main provider on the island. He was accompanied by another agent. La Voz de Ibiza has seen the images captured by the establishment’s security cameras. Avant Link’s offices are located in the municipality of Ibiza Town and, therefore, outside the jurisdiction of Beltran Carbonell. The events took place in Bisbe Llocer street, number 2, which borders precisely with the municipality of Sant Josep.
For this reason, the worker of the Uber subcontractor speaks in his complaint of “overreach of his functions” and “abuse of authority”. He has asked the City Council of Sant Josep to “take action”.
The facts would be related to the fact that Beltrán Carbonell was dismissed as manager of one of the fleets managed by AvantLink last May. A month later he joined the Local Police of Sant Josep. From that moment on, several episodes of harassment were reported.
What the local police law says
According to the literal of the Law 4/2013, of July 17, of Coordination of the Local Police of the Balearic Islands, the overreach of the agent, whose practices motivated the opening of a file by the City Council of Sant Josep, is beyond doubt. Article 6 on the territorial scope of action makes it clear:“The police forces must act within the territorial scope of their municipalities”. Exceptions to the general rule must be motivated by “emergency situations” and have “the prior authorization of the respective mayors”, a situation in which they become dependent on the head of the local police of the municipality in which they are acting. If they carry out escort duties for the authorities of their corporation, they “may also act outside the respective municipality with the authorization of the Ministry of the Interior”. It is obvious that neither of the two circumstances are present in the case denounced.
Reported intimidation and harassment
The complainants, the administrator of Avant Link and the new manager, state that Beltran arrived at the offices accompanied by another police officer and asked for specific information on working hours and company operations.
In Spain, filing a false complaint is a crime and is punishable by imprisonment depending on the seriousness of the crime falsely attributed by the complainant. They further claim that the officer’s attitude was intimidating, and that this incident is part of an ongoing pattern of continued harassment.
Evidence presented
The complaints were filed with the National Police in Ibiza and at a police station in Madrid days after the incident. They provided images captured by the security cameras of the premises capturing Beltrán at the scene, in addition to other documentation. They have also brought the facts to the attention of the Sant Josep Town Hall, the head of the Local Police of the municipality and the Conselleria de Transportes del Consell de Ibiza. Although La Voz de Ibiza is in possession of a copy of the entry record presented by one of the complainants in which the complaints filed with the National Police, medical reports, audios and images captured by security cameras are attached, official sources of the City Council of Sant Josep have assured that they are unaware of the facts.
