SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On May 13, 2021, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging brothers Jonathan Amill Peña and Yosef Ricardo Cruz Peña with an attempted carjacking of an off-duty police officer, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.
According to the Government’s allegations, on March 10, 2021 around 5:00 a.m., a female police officer leaving her shift stopped to assist Yosef Ricardo Cruz Peña with an apparently broken-down vehicle on a bridge in Yabucoa. Cruz Peña was a United States Marine on leave in Puerto Rico. Once the police officer stopped her car to help Cruz Peña, his brother Jonathan Amill Peña approached her car from behind with a gun. The police officer and carjacker exchanged gun fire, with over 19 shots being fired. One of the carjackers, Jonathan Amill Peña, was injured, and his cohorts fled to take him to the hospital. The police officer was not physically injured.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis Valentin of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section is in charge of the prosecution of the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is in charge of the investigation. If convicted, the defendants face a sentence in excess of ten years in prison.