Hostage-taker shot by policemen

A man who wanted to get back at some “bullies” ended up being shot after he took hostages in Manila and ran to Caloocan where, armed with a grenade, he was shot when he refused to surrender to the police following a seven-hour standoff Sunday morning.

The Caloocan police took into custody Von Altreg, 33, a jobless resident of Sampaloc, Manila, while the hostages who were released unharmed five hours into the incident were identified as 29-year-old Jovito Lacsamana, Altreg’s neighbor, and Barangay (village) 513 councilor-elect Dante Brillantes.

According to a report prepared and signed by Caloocan police chief Senior Supt. Bernard Tambaoan, the incident started at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday as Altreg was walking home.

The suspect told the police that a group of men drinking on the sidewalk bullied him. Irritated, Altreg hurried home but returned to the area, bringing with him a Belgian-made hand grenade, its safety pin already missing.

“He told us he just wanted to scare the men who allegedly bullied him,” Tambaoan said in a telephone interview. “But when the men saw him with a grenade, they ran away.”

Some of them went to the Blumentritt-España Police Community Precinct where they reported the incident. The police immediately responded and chased the suspect who took Lacsamana hostage.

“The suspect had originally planned to take [Lacsamana’s] entire family hostage, but the victim pleaded with the suspect to let them go and take him instead,” Tambaoan said.

Altreg then took Brillantes captive after the latter heard about the hostage-taking and drove to the area in a barangay service vehicle. Altreg boarded the vehicle with his other captive and told Brillantes to drive through Blumentritt until they reached La Loma and Balintawak in Quezon City.

Policemen from the Quezon City police who had been alerted to the incident gave chase and alerted the Caloocan police after Altreg ordered Brillantes to turn on Edsa and go to Samson Road in Caloocan.

At 2:30 a.m., Altreg was cornered at A. Mabini Street and C3 Road where a roadblock had been set up. An hour later, he was convinced by Chief Insp. Ilustre Mendoza, Caloocan Police Substation 2 commander, to go with him to a police detachment where during negotiations, he released his two hostages unharmed.

“Then, at 5:45 a.m., the suspect suddenly collared Mendoza and tried to drop the grenade inside his shirt,” Tambaoan said.

“However, Mendoza was quick to pull away and run outside. Altreg then hurled the grenade at his direction but it hit the front door of the detachment before exploding. Altreg then ran outside where he was shot by policemen in the leg,” Tambaoan added.