SAN SALVADOR – A journalist who wounded a man who allegedly tried to steal his vehicle is being held by police in El Salvador while they determine whether or not he acted in self-defense, officials and media outlets said Sunday.
Eduardo Martinez, the Central America correspondent for the “Cierre de Edicion” news show on Channel 62 in Los Angeles, California, was assaulted Saturday on a street in this capital by two men who took his cell phone and money, the La Prensa Grafica newspaper reported.
Martinez pulled out his weapon when the men tried to steal his car, a move that resulted in an exchange of gunfire in which one of the alleged assailants was wounded.
After fleeing the scene, the journalist alerted a police patrol as to what had occurred and the officers detained him for injuring the other man, who was also arrested and taken to a San Salvador hospital, where he remains in custody, a National Civilian Police spokesman said.
Martinez is being held awaiting a preliminary hearing in which prosecutors will either have to file or drop charges against him, the police spokesman said.
The prosecutor’s office has 72 hours to decide which course of action to take.
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