Journalist Mónica Rincón, an anchor at CNN Chile, was the victim of an encerrona (a carjacking in which attackers box in a vehicle) shortly after midnight in the comuna (municipality) of Santiago. She was left without physical injuries, and her vehicle was later found abandoned in Maipú. No arrests have been made so far.
According to Cooperativa, Rincón did not host "CNN Prime", the channel's main newscast, this Tuesday. That edition was presented by journalist Ivo Goic, who did not mention what happened to his colleague and opened with coverage of the frontal system affecting the country.
According to information from the Fiscalía (Public Prosecutor's Office) reported by BioBioChile, the robbery took place at the interchange between Ruta 5 and Costanera Norte, heading east. The journalist was returning home from work.
A car stopped abruptly in front of her, and between two and four men armed with pistols got out. After threatening her, they forced her out of her SUV, a black Volvo XC60.
In her police report, Rincón said the assailants fired at least two shots into the air. They then fled in the Volvo and in a second vehicle, apparently a BMW. A colleague who was driving behind her helped her and took her to a police station.
On the instructions of the Ministerio Público (Public Prosecutor's Office), the Sección de Encargo y Búsqueda de Vehículos (SEBV, the vehicle search unit) of Carabineros (Chile's national police) took charge of the investigation. The car was found in a narrow street in Maipú during a preventive patrol by municipal officers.
The case is under investigation: the Fiscalía and Carabineros are working to identify the perpetrators. The sources do not report the case number (RUC, Rol Único de Causa, the unique case identifier) or any statement from the channel.
This is not the first time Rincón has been the victim of this crime. In 2021 she was robbed in the same way on her way to work, a few meters from the CNN Chile offices.