Jesús María Carmona is a small-time crook who poses as a cop so he can rob a bank. A few days before the day he planned to do it, a guerrilla group robs the same bank and Carmona is shot to death defending it when he has no other choice but to act as a policeman. Soon after, his image becomes a symbol for the police and he is honored, but his identity is found out. Meanwhile, in the neighborhood where he grew up his effigy is burned as he is now considered a traitor.