Rep. Camacho accused of assault

Vicente Camacho

The Department of Public Safety is looking into a complaint filed by a man alleging that Rep. Vicente Camacho (D-Saipan) was one of three men who assaulted him on the evening of Friday, Oct. 29.

When asked about the complaint filed by Steve Koch against Camacho, Department of Public Safety spokesperson Dre Pangelinan said that DPS is currently investigating the allegation.

“I do not have any details on this case, but we do have officers looking into the case,” he said.

Saipan Tribune was told that an arrest warrant was issued late evening yesterday, but this could not be immediately confirmed as of 6pm press time, despite multiple attempts to confirm this with DPS.

According to a source who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity as the case is still under investigation, Koch, a 59-year-old man who works as the Commonwealth Ports Authority’s master electrician, and his daughter were out on a walk near their residence in China Town around 11pm last Friday when they were allegedly attacked by Camacho and two other men.

Camacho denied this though. When asked about the matter last night, he denied assaulting Koch, saying the incident was the other way around and that he and his two sons were assaulted by Koch and they did jump on Koch but in order to subdue him.

In the source’s version of the story, he claims that the two men, led by Camacho, allegedly jumped Koch from behind and started pounding the victim on the head. The victim’s daughter, who reportedly witnessed the event, allegedly called out to Camacho who she referred to as “uncle,” telling him to get off her father. That’s when the Precinct 3 lawmaker and the other two men reportedly walked away.

It was learned that Koch, a cancer survivor, could not fight back as he was trying to protect the bladder bag attached to him so it would not be detached from his body during the incident.

Koch allegedly called the police to report the incident that same evening immediately after the beating and on Saturday, DPS detectives met him at his home to conduct and investigation.

In Camacho’s version of the story, he claims that he was in the area because he was picking his son up from his cousin who is also the child’s babysitter. Soon after, as he and his son were on the way to their car, he said they were confronted by Koch who had what seemed to be a whip with something sharp attached to it.

Camacho accused Koch of swinging the whip at his son, cutting his son, and he said did what he needed to do to defend his son.

It is believed that there was an altercation between Koch and Camacho’s cousin, who is also Koch’s brother-in-law, on the night of the incident.

He claims and he and his sons did not want to hurt Koch, and that they just wanted to subdue him until the police arrived.

“It just happened. We didn’t try to hurt him. I can’t do that. It was an unfortunate incident that I did not initiate. I did not assault him,” the lawmaker said.

Camacho added that he called the police after the incident but did not file a complaint but he said he intends to do so now.