Ojeda Rios Probe Blocked From Access To FBI Agents

Associated Press, December 8 2005

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The FBI has turned over firearms and other items, but hasn't allowed local authorities to question agents involved in a shootout that killed Puerto Rican independence activist Filiberto Ojeda Rios, the island's justice secretary said Wednesday.

Roberto Sanchez said his office has received eight assault rifles, several bullet-resistant vests, helmets and photographs needed for his investigation into the Sept. 23 shooting of Ojeda Rios, who was wanted in connection with an armored truck depot robbery in Connecticut.

Sanchez said the items provided "a better idea" of what happened when agents swarmed the fugitive's remote farmhouse to apprehend him, but noted that his office still wants to question FBI agents involved in the raid and review FBI documents related to the case.

Sanchez said his office also wants to question Ojeda Rios' widow, Elma Beatriz Rosado, who escaped from the farmhouse unharmed.

"It's very important to have both the testimony of the FBI agents and Mrs. Rosado," Sanchez said, adding that he would consider seeking legal action to obtain the testimonies only "as a last resort."

The FBI's office in San Juan didn't immediately return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

FBI agents shot Ojeda Rios, 72, during a raid to arrest him in connection with the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million from a Wells Fargo armored truck depot in West Hartford, Conn.

Rosado has accused the FBI of firing first on Ojeda Rios - a charge the U.S. agency has denied.

Critics have assailed the FBI's handling of the operation, especially for waiting almost 24 hours before entering the farmhouse while Ojeda Rios lay wounded.

An autopsy showed that Ojeda Rios, who was shot once in the shoulder, might have survived had he received immediate medical care.