The City judiciary has requested that Adrián ‘El Panadero’ Napolitano be called in for questioning over the Boca fan’s involvement in the attack on River Plate players in last Thursday’s Copa Libertadores derby, while Federal Police officers raided one of the suspect’s bakeries in the district of Valentín Alsina.
Prosecutor Susana Calleja issued the summons for Napolitana, but stopped short of requesting his arrest despite the video images which show the Boca barra spraying the home-made gas into the sleeve protecting River players as they emerged onto the Bombonera pitch. The head of security in Boca also positively identified ‘El Panadero’ as the perpetrator of the attack.
Defence lawyer Javier Raidan had already asked for his client to be spared from custody, and presiding judge Carlos Ponte will have 24 hours to decide whether to uphold the request.
This evening, meanwhile, a police unit entered the ‘Ideal’ bakery, one of two owned by Napolitano in the southern zone of the Buenos Aires conurbation, searching for material that could aid the case.
‘The moment I realised, I wanted to die’
Earlier, ‘El Panadero’ Napolitano has admitted carrying out spraying River Plate players with the toxic substance during the abandoned Superclásico while holding that he did not realise the damage his assault would cause.
«I regret my actions. The moment I realised, I wanted to die. I have never been in a police station, I am despairing,» the Boca barra confessed in an interview with TyC Sports.
«The truth is that I did what I did without realising, my whole world is crashing in.»
Napolitano, who is believed to be a member of an opposing faction of Boca’s ‘La 12’ hooligan organisation, insisted that the attack which left four River man needing hospital treatment was «an accident». The aggressor also insisted that he was a «hard worker», who got up every day at 4am.
«I thought there were no cameras. I never thought this would go so far,» he added.
«I am afraid, I do not know what to do or how to react. My family is afraid.»
Source: Buenos Aires Herald