Rio de Janeiro's Civil Police, the state's investigative force, have indicted 13 people over the death of cyclist Cláudio Rafael Landeiro Moreira, 37, who was beaten on the night of August 11-12 in Copacabana, the famous beach neighborhood in the city's South Zone, after being wrongly accused of stealing a bicycle. The case file, known in Brazil as an inquérito, was closed on Monday (September 7) by detective Angelo José Lages Machado, head of the 12th Police Precinct, and sent to state prosecutors. Five of those indicted face charges of triple-qualified homicide; four are in jail and one remains a fugitive.
According to the investigation, Landeiro Moreira had stopped with his sister's bicycle in front of a toy store and a pharmacy on Barata Ribeiro Street. Police reviewed more than 12 hours of security camera footage and concluded that he was surrounded by private security guards who worked the area and beaten for about nine minutes, with punches, kicks and dozens of blows from a wooden object. The report says the victim "lay agonizing on the ground for more than 30 minutes" before help arrived. Taken to Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital, he died on August 12 of traumatic brain injury, internal bleeding and ruptured organs. He had psychiatric conditions and did not resist, and the detective said there was "not the slightest indication" that he had stolen the bicycle.
The charges
Indicted for triple-qualified homicide (trivial motive, cruel means and a method that prevented the victim's defense) were street security guards Davi dos Santos Machado and Jorge Luiz Ricardo Dias, app delivery workers Felipe Eduardo dos Santos Dias and Ailton José da Silva, and Wellington Luiz Santos de Souza, who appears on camera kicking the victim's head at the end of the beating and is the only fugitive; a crime tips hotline posted a wanted notice for him on August 27. Others indicted include four people accused of illegally working as street security guards, four local business owners accused of bankrolling the scheme, a woman accused of handing over the wooden baton used in the beatings, and a man who watched the assault without calling police or firefighters, indicted for failure to render aid.
The report also describes an informal security arrangement paid for by local merchants. "The payments were not made under a formal contract or a properly registered labor relationship. On the contrary, they were made informally, mostly in cash and without receipts," the document states, according to state news agency Agência Brasil, which had access to the file. In his conclusion, the detective wrote that "instead of calling the authorities, those involved chose to judge Cláudio and sentence him to successive beatings, which caused his death" (translations from Portuguese).
What the suspects said
In statements to police, reported by news site G1, security guard Davi dos Santos Machado changed his account. He first said he had thrown only one punch and blamed the delivery workers for the beating; later he admitted striking the victim with the baton and called the episode an "insane act", without explaining what led him to do it. He said there was no concrete information about a theft and that the victim obeyed the men's orders. Wellington, according to witness accounts, asked the delivery workers whether Cláudio was a "thief" and, after being told he was, kicked the victim's head, saying: "A thief has to die." A police indictment is an accusation, and all 13 people remain presumed innocent until convicted.
The case now goes to Rio state prosecutors, who will review the investigation and decide whether to file formal charges in court. No date has been announced for that decision. If the charges are accepted, the indicted will become defendants and may present their defense at trial.