Antonio García López

For other people with similar names, see Antonio García, Antonio Lopez.

Francisco Antonio García López (1943–1995), also known as Toño Bicicleta (or Tony Bicycle in English), was a Puerto Rican criminal famous for escaping from jail several times. García managed to become part of Puerto Rican folklore and the object of constant references in popular culture. His escapes have become legendary in Puerto Rico.

Biography

Believed to be born in Lares, Puerto Rico, García was originally accused of the murder of his wife. He was mostly known as Toño Bicicleta because he never owned a car, and his favorite means of transport was a bicycle.

Criminal history

According to popular legend and police investigation, in 1968 Antonio García murdered his lover Gloria Soto after she told him she was leaving him for her husband. García beheaded Soto with a machete in front of her 4 year old son and sister, for which he was sentenced to life in prison. However he managed to escape two years later.

In 1974, García was again captured by a civilian in a farm in the town of Bayamón, Puerto Rico. He was incarcerated in the prison of Sabana Hoyos in Arecibo, Puerto Rico until 1981 when he escaped again.

His numerous escapes helped him become part of the local lore. Allegedly, during his escapes he would continue committing rape and kidnappings. However, some people claim that due to his notoriety he was used as some sort of scapegoat both by authorities and civilians to several crimes in the island.

In 1983, García escaped for the seventh and last time. That time, he was able to stay on the loose for 12 years before being caught. In 1987, he killed his uncle and stepfather. That same year, García killed Luis Rodríguez and kidnapped his girlfriend, Diana Pérez Lebrón. The woman stayed with the criminal for eight years and was with him at the moment of his last showdown with authorities.

Death and burial

In the morning of November 29, 1995, García was allegedly working in a coffee plantation in Castañer, Puerto Rico. Police arrived at 7:30 am, and Officer Luis Rosa Merced of the Puerto Rico Police Department shot the notorious criminal in the genitals. García eventually bled to death.

García's burial was attended by close to 3,000 people curious to see Puerto Rico's most notorious criminal of the 20th Century.

References to Toño Bicicleta

• In 1978, French writer Georges Londreix -who had been living in Puerto Rico during the 1970s and was the director of the local chapter of the Alliance Francaise edited "Tonio Bicicleta", a novel about García López written in French. It was subsequently translated to Spanish.
• In the early 1970s, Tony Croatto, then paired with his sister Nelly, had a minor pop music hit in Puerto Rico titled "La Bicicleta de Toño" ("Toño's Bicycle").
• In the early 1990s, local rock band La Mancha del Jardín released a song titled "Toño Bicicleta".
• A different song named "Toño Bicicleta" was recorded by Spanish-Puerto Rican thrash metal band Juerguistas y Borrachos.
• In the late 1990s, a local film titled La Noche Que Se Apareció Toño Bicicleta (The Night that Toño Bicicleta Appeared) was released.
• In 2007, the Calle 13 song "La Crema" on the album "Residente o Visitante" makes reference to Toño Bicicleta as part of a laundry list of Puerto Rican culture and lore.
• A diss track towards Tego Calderón called "Wasa Wasa" by Puerto Rican rapper Temperamento, makes reference to Toño Bicicleta on the following verse "Aguanta esa boca tienes los cachetes llenos de coca, tu si que eres feca, eres tan horrible que ni Toño te prestaba la Bicicleta".
• A blog post at Suburban Justice mentioned Toño Bicicleta in a post on February 16, 2009 [1]. The blog accuses the ghost of Toño Bicicleta to be in cahoots with the ghost of Al Capone and The Big Three to steal bicycles from Americans like Jimmy Carter and Lance Armstrong in order to stimulate the purchase of automobiles.

See also

Puerto Rico portal

• List of famous Puerto Ricans

External links

• Suburban Justice - Bicycle Race 2/16/2009
• Los prófugos más escurridizos de Puerto Rico on El Nuevo Día