MEXICALI NEWS: Lawmaker calls on cities to reduce traffic accidents, Man arrested for sexual abuse of minor

ASSEMBLY

Lawmaker calls on cities to reduce traffic accidents

A state lawmaker has called on Baja California city officials to implement operations to detect and find drivers deemed a risk to themselves and others.

Deputy Héctor Manuel Zamorano said that Mexicali and Tijuana, the state’s largest cities, have seen an increase in traffic accidents, mainly caused by young drivers under the influence of alcohol.

During the first month of the year, Baja California recorded about 240 traffic accidents, a 15% increase from January 2023, the lawmaker said.

Zamorano considered the need to have increasingly efficient law enforcement operations that would significantly reduce accidents at checkpoints.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography said that in 2022, Baja California had an accident rate of 52.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, for a total of 14,245. The Mexican agency placed Baja California in first place in fatal road accidents with 138 deaths and 4,162 injuries.

CRIME

Man arrested for sexual abuse of minor

Mexicali police officers have arrested a man accused of allegedly sexually abusing a teenage girl.

The Mexicali Police Department said the suspect has been identified as Ernesto Alonso, 26.

According to police, the sexual abuse incident took place in the area of the fifth section of the Fraccionamiento Hacienda de los Portales, in southern Mexicali.

The victim’s mother told police that her 13-year-old daughter reported the alleged sexual abuse to her stepfather.

The police arrested the suspect on the spot.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Man arrested for domestic violence and threats

A 29-year-old man was arrested by Mexicali police officers following allegations of domestic violence and threats.

The Mexicali Police Department identified the suspect as Jesus Elvis.

The suspect was arrested while brandishing a firearm at the victim in the Fraccionamiento Paseos del Sol area in southern Mexicali.

The police were able to protect the victim and arrest the suspect.

Police said the victim told officers the suspect was threatening her with a fake gun to force her to get back together with him. However, the victim refused to resume the relationship. The suspect brandished the fake gun and officers on patrol observed the incident.

Police said the suspect was turned over to the state attorney general’s office on charges of domestic violence.

POLICY

Political parties are allocated legislative seats by proportional representation

A commission of the Baja California State Electoral Institute has approved a resolution to award eight proportional representation legislative seats to political parties that comply with state electoral law.

The institute said in a statement that the conservative National Action Party, which has governed Baja California for three consecutive decades, was awarded three seats, along with one seat each for the other five political parties.

The deputies Santa Alejandrina Corral Quintero and Juan Diego Echevarría Ibarra, from the National Action Party, and Daylín García Ruvalcaba, from the Citizen Movement Party, were re-elected according to this principle.

The president of the Commission on Political Parties and Financing, Vera Juarez, said that the allocation of these seats was based on the results of the June 2 elections.

Seats are awarded to political parties based on candidates having a presence in at least half of the state’s 17 legislative districts and receiving at least 3 percent of the statewide vote. However, Baja California law requires, under the principle of proportional representation, that candidates win their seats based on gender and percentage of the vote. The institute also reviews appeals filed with the state electoral tribunal and its decisions.

Of the 25 seats in the assembly, 17 are elected by voters in single-member constituencies and eight others are elected under the decades-old principle of proportional representation to allow for representation of minority parties in legislatures and municipal councils.

– Arturo Bojorquez,

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