Colombian authorities arrest former police officer who spent four years on the run after he shot an unarmed 16-year-old graffiti artist working on a Felix the Cat painting

A former police officer who shot dead an unarmed 16-year-old graffiti artist has finally been arrested in Colombia after spending the last four years on the run. 

Wilmer Alarcón was taken into custody Sunday after security forces raided a home in the city of Yupal.

Alarcón was wanted for shooting Daniel Felipe Becerra on August 19, 2011.

The arrest came days after family and friends gathered for a vigil to mark the 10th year anniversary of the teen’s murder, Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported.

Gustavo Trejos told El Tiempo that he had taken his son to buy paint at a shop in Bogotá after the pair had lunched together.

“We return at night,” Trejos recalled. “I has some movie theater tickets and he told me no, to go with my .'

Becerra stayed home, then went with friends to do a rendering of Felix the Cat at the base of a bridge in downtown Bogotá.

Former cop Wilmer Alarcón was taken into custody without incident Sunday after security forces raided a home in Yupal, Colombia. He was convicted in January 2017 for the August 2011 killing of 16-year-old Diego Felipe Becerra.

Diego Felipe Becerra was shot dead by a police officer in Bogotá, Colombia, on August 19, 2011

According to investigators, Alarcón and his partner were investigating a robbery and were looking for the suspects when they got to the bridge where Becerra and his friends were painting.

Fearing that Alarcón and his partner were going to confiscate their paint and supplies, Becerra and the others ran away. Alarcón fired and struck Becerra on his back and shoulder. 

Trejos remembered that his son’s friend recognized Alarcón at the hospital the night of the shooting. He said both cops told them, ‘And if it was like that, then what?’

When Trejos visited the murder scene, he said it was partially cordoned off, but that there were no signs of blood. 

Daniel Felipe Becerra was at the base of a bridge painting when he ran from police and was shot to death. 

Ex-cop Wilmer Alarcón evaded capture for four years following his conviction in 2017. He had been sentenced to 37 years and six months for killing Diego Felipe Becerra in 2011

Detectives questioned Trejos about whether he or Becerra owned a gun after the cops claimed the teenager was carrying a Sterling .22 chrome pistol at the time of the shooting. 

Alarcón was placed under arrest on February 7, 2012, amid an investigation into Becerra's  death and charged with killing the teen. 

In 2013, authorities discovered the police officers and their superiors had altered the scene of the shooting by placing the firearm there. Furthermore, the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences found that Becerra’s body did not have traces of ammonium, lead or barium, which would indicate whether he had a gun, thus ruling out the officers’ claims that Alarcón acted in self-defense because the teenager was armed.

Former cop Wilmer Alarcón is questioned Sunday after his arrest in Yopal, Colombia

In the following months, authorities arrested nine other law enforcement agents - including two who planted the gun on Becerra - and a lawyer. Authorities also apprehended the bus driver and his wife for making false statements.

Alarcón was found guilty of aggravated homicide on August 19, 2016. He was sentenced to 37 years and six months of prison on January 18, 2017 but was allowed to leave court under the condition that he would turn himself in to be sent to prison three days later.

He failed to show up and went on the lam. On Sunday, he finally was arrested.

In 2018, the city of Bogotá removed one of the colonels and six police officers from the force.

In all, 21 people have been linked to Becerra’s death. At least 13 are still facing hearings and four others have been sentenced.