El Pueblo De P.R. v. Hamiltoncruz Calderon

Summary

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico held that a municipal guard who wore plain clothes during an isolated preventive walk did not act as an undercover agent under Section 1063 of the Municipal Police Law, nor did his walk constitute a 'preventive patrol service' under Section 1066(e). Even if the guard's conduct violated the spirit of those provisions, the arrest was valid because the felony occurred in his presence, satisfying both the Municipal Police Law and Rule 12 of Criminal Procedure (citizen's arrest). The Court therefore reinstated the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress.