It’s not very often we have something positive to cover about West Ham United star Lucas Paquetá in the Brazilian press these days.
With the midfielder under investigation by the Brazilian senate and the English FA over alleged betting breaches, it’s been nothing but negative press for Paquetá and his family for some time in Brazil.
Well, today it’s something a little different as GE Globo report how Paqueta’s brother, Matheus Tolentino Coelho de Lima, knows as Matheus Paquetá, has turned hero this week.
They explain that Paquetá’s brother had initially found himself being arrested by police on Friday afternoon regarding a case involving the theft of a car belonging to Botafogo left-back Hugo.
He had his vehicle, and other belongings stole on Thursday in São Cristóvão, a neighbourhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The robbery was reported to police before thieves later began extorting the defender, demanding R$60,000 to return the car.
The vehicle did not have a tracker, but police found it by using the GPS on Hugo’s cell phone, which had also been stolen. It was first tracked to Morar Carioca, a housing complex in Triagem, near São Cristóvão. Then, on Friday, the vehicle was taken to Bora Bora, a middle-class condominium in Barra da Tijuca, in the West Zone of Rio.
The Civil Police went to the location and identified the relevant apartment but when they knocked on the door, they found the West Ham star’s brother and another man, plus the key to the stolen vehicle. Both were subsequently arrested.
They protested their innocence, though, and in statements to the police insisted that they had recovered the vehicle after making contact with friends from the favela. They recovered the vehicle and took it to the condominium in Bora Bora.
Hugo later arrived at the police station and corroborated the story. Matheus’ lawyer, Gabriel Habib, later released a statement on the matter.
“Those who were asking for R$60,000 to return the car were the drug dealers,” he said.
“He only helped to recover, together with another friend, and took the car to the condominium in Barra to return it to the Botafogo player. Before Hugo arrived, the police arrived. But Matheus did not commit any crime.”
The West Ham man’s brother has now been released and investigations are ongoing to find the real culprits and those who tried to extort the Botafogo player.
