A 31-year-old man who stole a hearse from the Instituto Médico-Legal Roquette Pinto in Belo Horizonte was released by the court on Sunday (March 29). The decision came in a custody hearing without bail payment. He will respond to charges at liberty with restrictions.
Early Friday morning (March 27), around 5:07 a.m. during shift hours, the 31-year-old man jumped the wall of the Instituto Médico-Legal Roquette Pinto in the Gameleira neighborhood, west Belo Horizonte, and stole the vehicle with plate TGN-3H71.
Minas Gerais Civil Police located the stolen hearse and captured the suspect hours later in Esmeraldas, in the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area. He was arrested and charged in flagrante delicto with qualified theft.
In a custody hearing on Sunday (March 29), Judge Paulo Cezar Mourão Almeida ordered his release. The judge ruled that the man poses no danger to public order or the investigation, being a first-time offender with a fixed address and no violence or threats in the crime.
Family members said the theft stemmed from anger: the man sought Civil Police to report sexual abuse against his son but received no attention. The motive will be investigated.
The suspect cannot leave Belo Horizonte without court permission and must present himself whenever summoned by the Justice.
