The fugitive suspect who assaulted a woman after a head-on collision in the Dominican Republic on New Year’s Day was finally arrested after two weeks.
- Alexis Villalona was arrested on Friday in Bani, Dominican Republic, for assaulting a woman who rammed a scooter into her car on New Year’s Day.
- Villalona was caught arguing with a woman after a Santa Arias moped failed to depress the brakes and hit their vehicle
- The pair argued, while Villalona held a gun by his side and then struck Arius, knocking him to the ground.
- A spokesman for the Dominican Republic National Police said Villalona was held at a local hotel after changing home on Thursday.
A fugitive businessman has been arrested in the southern Dominican Republic province of Paravia for beating a woman after a head-on collision on New Year’s Day.
47-year-old Alexis Villalona was found hiding in the house of a family member in Bani, Paravia, on Friday.
A spokesman for the Dominican National Police told Noticeis SIN that Villalona was nearly arrested on several occasions on Thursday, but managed to overtake police each time by turning home.
Villalona’s actions sparked outrage across the Caribbean country after his scooter collided with his SUV at an intersection on the morning of January 1, after he was captured by a surveillance camera violently attacking 35-year-old Santa Arias .
Alexis Villalona attacks a Santa Arias moped moments after he collided with his SUV on New Year’s Eve in Bani, Dominican Republic. Villalona ran for 12 days before being arrested at a family member’s home on Friday
Alexis Villalona was arrested on Friday in Bani, Dominican Republic, after he was caught on camera assaulting a woman who was climbing on a New Year’s Day moped and accidentally collided with her SUV
Santa Arias was attacked in the Dominican Republic by a motorist identified as Alexis Villalona after he crashed his moped into an SUV at an intersection. He is pushed to the ground and Villalona slaps him before fleeing the scene.
Villalona was about to turn left at a corner and immediately pressed the brakes as Arias slammed her moped into his vehicle.
He later stepped out of the SUV to inspect the damage and argued with Arias before pulling the gun out of his pocket.
Villanova kicked the scooter three times and then slammed Arias to the ground as his female partner stepped in and pushed him away.
A witness records the moment Alexis Villalona grabbed Santa Arias by his hair while his female partner tried to stop him
A witness at the scene saw Villona continuing to push her accomplice aside as she tried to follow Arius. He then grabbed Arias by the hair and slammed him back to the ground, as other motorists watched.
Moments later, Villona can be seen putting the gun away and hitting Arias, knocking on the sidewalk and instructing the woman to get back into the vehicle before leaving.
Footage of the arrest showed Villalona refusing police orders when they attempted to handcuff him, at one point telling the agent in charge of the operation, ‘I am not a thug.’
Alexis Villalona initially refused to be handcuffed, telling police he was not a ‘thug’, before escorting him from a family member’s home where he was hiding on Friday.
Villalona told reporters at the district attorney’s building on Friday that he regretted attacking Arias. He insisted that the road rage attack was due to his drunkenness and added that he was on the run because he was ‘scared’.
He said, ‘I apologize to the girl, to the authorities, a mistake has been made, I am very sorry.’ ‘I lost control, I was under the influence of alcohol, I apologize to Santa Arias, the country and the authorities, I am very sorry.’
Static image of a surveillance camera shows Santa Arias on his scooter before crashing into an SUV
Santa Arias lies on the ground after being slapped by Alexis Villalona during a New Year’s Eve road rage incident in the Dominican Republic
Former Vice President Margarita Cedeno rebuked police on Thursday in a series of tweets that questioned the department’s efforts to apprehend Villalona, while asking her to turn herself in.
‘They want us to forget Bani attacker Alexis Villalona. It is unlikely that the police have been able to find a thug that has been identified, who has been absconding for two weeks,’ Cedeno wrote. ‘This attacker is making fun of the entire country including women. Women victims of misogynistic violence need to know that the police and the justice system do their job.
Villalona is to appear before a judge on Saturday and be formally charged.
Peravia’s chief prosecutor Angel Tejada said the district attorney general’s office would submit a request to place Villalona in pre-trial custody for one year.
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