The prefect
Rafael Carlos Loira
was known as "Pepo". As a child, his grandparents and great-uncles called him that. He stayed with her forever. Lucas
Matías Pogonza
is also called by the same nickname. In the last hours, the fate of both came together in a tragic way, but from completely opposite paths.
"Pepo" Loira, second assistant of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, 49 years old, had recently started a family business in which he distributed fruits and vegetables to make ends meet.
That's what he was doing on Monday night in
Villa Fiorito, Lomas de Zamora
, aboard his Renault Duster, when a gang of criminals traveling in a Chevrolet Corsa murdered him with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
One of those thieves, according to investigators, was "Pepo" Pogonza (26), identified as the one driving the gray car, the "bandit," as he and his brothers were called on social networks.
The suspect, like two of his accomplices, already identified and known as "Tarta" and "Pulguita", lives in the town of La Cava, a settlement in Fiorito that has the same name as the one located in Beccar, San Isidro.
They are neighbors of the victim.
Video
Lucas Matías Pogonza (26) was arrested in Villa Fiorito, Lomas de Zamora.
"Pepo" Pogonza has
a record of attempted murder and resisting arrest
on March 14, 2019.
They detained him on Tuesday in a hallway in General Paz at 1600, corner of Ejercito de los Andes. It is 250 meters from where the prefect was shot and a place well known to investigators:
his brothers Lautaro and Kevin lived there, also linked to the world of crime
.
This Wednesday Pogonza testified before prosecutor Carla Furingo, from UFI 1 of Lomas de Zamora. As
Clarín
learned
, she said she did not know why he was being investigated and told what he did on the day of the incident, although he denied his participation.
Lucas Matías Pogonza, alias "Pepo", arrested for the crime of the prefect Rafael Carlos Loira in Villa Fiorito, Lomas de Zamora.
Last night, raids were carried out at his house and at his sister-in-law's, where
two firearms, 38 and 380 calibers, were seized
. Now they are going to do a comparison to determine if any of them were used to kill the prefect.
Lautaro Pogonza (18)
ended up dead from a gunshot to the head on June 24, 2022 in a hallway on 400 Iceland Street, in the same town. He wanted to rob a man, who turned out to be a police officer, and killed him.
Lautaro Pogonza (18) was shot to death by a police officer on June 24, 2022 in Villa Fiorito.
This case was archived, since prosecutor Gerardo Loureyro (UFI 3 of Lomas de Zamora) considered that the officer acted in legitimate defense and he was dismissed.
His family and friends permanently remember him in different posts on Facebook. At the grave of "Tiki Tiki" they left a photo of him in a photo frame, accompanied by various items, including a revolver.
"
We will always remember you as the real pest, cat
," they wrote to him. They even made a mural in the neighborhood.
Lautaro Pogonza (18) was shot to death by a police officer on June 24, 2022 in Villa Fiorito.
Kevin Pogonza (23)
is detained for an attempted murder on January 20. Detectives assure that "Chispita" is in preventive detention.
Also in this case, agents from the fifth police station and the same prosecutor, Furingo, intervened.
"On Sunday we celebrated 28 years of being together and I was taking Tuesdays to rest. We were going to celebrate on Tuesday because of work, but well, I'm celebrating something else, I was really alone, I didn't think I was going to be alone "said
Sonia Silva (48), the victim's widow
.
Prefect Rafael Carlos Loira (49) was murdered during a robbery when he was delivering his wife's grocery store "to make ends meet."
Loira had two children: a 19-year-old girl and a 15-year-old teenager. He had entered the Prefecture on September 1, 1998. His family said goodbye to him this Wednesday at the Lomas de Zamora cemetery.
The crime of the prefect Rafael Carlos Loira
Last Monday, the prefect came home from his shift at the Directorate of Operations and Citizen Protection and left again: "
Let me do the deliveries
," he told his wife.
"As an attention, to sustain sales, he delivered to the best-known people in the neighborhood. Rafael had gone four blocks from the business, just here," said Rubén Silva, his brother-in-law.
The prefect was at the door of the neighbor's house, with whom he had exchanged text messages. It was 10:07 p.m. when the security cameras detected him passing by.
Video
He had been in the force for 25 years and with his wife he had a business to make ends meet.
On the corner of Mario Bravo and Ginebra, a Chevrolet Corsa crossed paths and at least three thieves got out. Loira took out the gun and defended himself, but was shot in the abdomen.
"
Come, come, they shot 'Pepo'
," the client wrote to warn Sonia that her husband was injured. A little later the worst news would be confirmed.
EMJ