"Sir, can I cut your grass?" is the question that
Roberto Mario Iannizzotto
(39) asked this morning to a neighbor on 5124 Guaminí Street in Caseros, Tres de Febrero district.
While he settled down to continue mowing the grass,
a truck fled, shot at, from a patrol car
.
Disoriented, Mario stood watching the scene and a few seconds later he fell to the ground.
A bullet hit him in the abdomen and ended his life in the hospital.
According to
Clarín
, Mario was dedicated to practicing this profession seven years ago.
In fact, he started after training through a course offered by the Municipality.
He was a licensed trimmer and was part of a community registry.
“He started alone and little by little he bought the tools
until he had a gasoline cutter
that is one of the best.
He had to paddle it quite a bit.
The last time he worked with a boy, he cut the neighbors and they themselves were recommending him,” says Alexis Varone, a very close friend of his, to
Clarín
.
Alexis describes Roberto as “a hard-working person who was always working to earn his living.”
“He has known me since I was very young, he lived around the corner from my house and at one point he gave me a job,” he remembers.
Mario was Francisco's father, he was single and was a big fan of Club Boca Juniors.
“He was a super fan.
Fun, cheerful, he always talked to the neighbors and was always with a smile for everyone," says Alexis.
Roberto Mario Iannizzotto (39), the gardener murdered during a brutal shooting in Caseros.
And he adds: "Teresa, who is his aunt, who also raised him and took care of me as a child, is the one who must be having the worst time right now."
The young man lived
just ten blocks
from the place where he was killed.
“He was a very beloved neighbor of the neighborhood, he has lived here since he was born.
He always smiling and friendly.
He willing to help whoever needs it.
He had a difficult life, but
he had managed to get ahead especially for his son.
These are moments of great sadness for the neighborhood,” says Noelia Colombo, a neighbor.
In Guaminí at 5124 the grass was half cut and there are still some blood stains that Mario lost.
“He was a guy who was working like all of us, he sure got up very early to come earn his money and it ended up like that.
Is there a right to take his life in that way?
”, asks Alejandra Cejas indignantly.
The brutal chase that ended with one death
The woman along with her daughters were the protagonists of Mario's tragic end.
Alejandra accurately describes that she got into her car along with her daughters at 7:46, she saw that there were three men a few meters away cutting her neighbor's grass.
Above the car, she begins to hear closer and closer the sirens of a patrol car and a string of gunshots.
In the images that could be seen from the security camera, at 7:47 a
white Toyota Hilux
truck passes by , at full speed, being chased by a patrol car.
“Both the one he was driving and the one on the passenger side had weapons pointing and pulling outwards.
The police were also shooting
,” recalls Alejandra.
He was cutting the grass on the sidewalk, got caught in the middle of a shootout between police and criminals and died from a gunshot in Caseros.
Roberto was lying on the ground with his lawn mower and was settling down to continue his work.
The scene catches his attention and he watches the two vehicles pass at a fast pace.
Seconds later, he collapses to the ground and his two companions run to help him.
A bullet hit his abdomen, according to neighbors consulted by
Clarín
, after 10 minutes the ambulance arrived, he was transferred to the Carrillo hospital in Ciudadela and died.
“For me, the bullet that hit was that of the thieves, because he fell after the patrol car passed by.
This is no man's land.
Here in front we have two factories.
Every morning the workers sit on the curb waiting for their boss to open the door for them.
When I go out, you don't know how relieved it is to see the boys there, look how calm I am as a neighbor,” says the woman who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years.
Gabriela Cicarelli has lived in the area for five years. When everything happened she was having mates with her husband. She thought the noises were those of a motorcycle exhaust, but the noise of her neighbors made her go out to see what she was thinking.
“
'He's dead, he's dead'
everyone was shouting and I came out and saw the poor boy there.
This is very dangerous,” she says.
“Thefts are commonplace.
In fact, I never put my car in the garage because I'm terrified.
I'd rather have it here and have a piece stolen than kill me.
It is a complicated area, there is no security and you pay a fortune in taxes,” she points out.
The neighbors themselves juggle to avoid thefts.
“We as neighbors pay for two domes together and we have a neighborhood alarm.
Although you do not prevent anything, it is something.
When I saw the news I felt very bad because it could have been me or anyone,” says a newsstand owner in the area.
“The most dangerous neighborhood at noon, although the truth is that there is no schedule.
At night when I come to look for my wife, I open the door and wait for the car to enter, I wait in case someone comes by surprise,” Gabriel Carrazco briefly explains to
Clarín
.
Next to him, a cardboard collector from the area, Walter Reynoso says that robberies “are commonplace,” and that they usually steal car parts or carry out broadcast robberies.
According to police sources assured to
Clarín
, the theft occurred in Caseros, after that an alert was sent and minutes later a patrolman managed to identify the 4x4.
From there begins the chase that ended Mario's life.
The criminals continued their escape until they reached Perdriel Avenue and Angel Pini, at that place they collided with another vehicle, abandoned the truck and escaped, shot and on foot.
“The accused are fugitives, they went in the direction of Villa Carlos Gardel.
They are waiting for the expertise to determine the procedure for the bullet,” they stated.
The case is in the hands of prosecutor Ernesto Farber, of the Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) 6 of the San Martín judicial department.
Inside the van in which the assailants were traveling, investigators seized a .22-caliber pistol, 9-millimeter cartridge cases, and intact ammunition of the same caliber.
Also, the prosecution seized two Bersa Thunder 9 millimeter pistols used by the officers who pursued the criminals with the aim of subjecting them to forensic examinations.
MG