Italy: Teen held in officer’s death ‘illegally blindfolded’
ROME (AP) — An Italian police commander says an American teenager who is under investigation for a police officer’s slaying in Rome was “illegally blindfolded” briefly before his interrogation.
Carabinieri Provincial Cmdr. Francesco Gargaro told The Associated Press in a phone interview Sunday that 18-year-old Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth was blindfolded “for a very few minutes, four or five” on Friday before he was questioned about the fatal stabbing of officer Mario Cerciello Rega.
Italian newspapers published a photo of Natale-Hjorth blindfolded with what appears to be a scarf and with his arms handcuffed behind his back in a room at a police station.
He and another American, 19-year-old Finnegan Lee Elder, remain jailed as suspects in the officer’s killing.
Cerciello Rega was stabbed eight times on a street close to the teens’ upscale hotel in Rome.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
