Pasay cop faces charges for threatening teens

DRUNKEN REMORSE SPO2 Randy Fortuna turns from cop to suspect. —NCRPO PHOTO

“I’ll kill you in front of your father.”

This was one of several threats hurled at two teenagers by a drunken policeman who was arrested by operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) for attempted homicide on Sunday night.

SPO2 Randy Fortuna of the Pasay City police was relieved from his post after he pointed his gun at Harold Villacruel, 18, and Jun-Jun (not his real name), a minor, both sons of nonuniformed police personnel.

The police said the teenagers were hanging out at a “sari-sari” store inside a housing unit for policemen at Camp Bagong Diwa, the NCRPO police headquarters, when an intoxicated Fortuna approached them and pointed his Glock 17 at Jun-Jun’s head “[for no] apparent reason.”

Death threat

According to the minor, Fortuna asked him: “Do you want to die like the three people I killed?”

After hitting Jun-Jun’s right shoulder with his firearm and ordering him to run, Fortuna then turned his attention to Villacruel, aiming the gun at the 18-year-old’s chest and slapping his face twice.

“I’m the only tough guy here, there’s no one else. Do you want your brains to be scattered here?” Villacruel recalled Fortuna telling him.

When the terrified teenager tried to flee, the policeman called out to him: “Are you going to tell your father? If you want, I’ll even come with you and kill you in front of him.”

Multiple cases

Fortuna was collared at 7 p.m. on Sunday after parents of the victims alerted the police.

He would be charged with attempted homicide and slight physical injuries on top of an administrative case of grave misconduct, said Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, NCRPO director.

According to the NCRPO, Fortuna’s wife previously filed a complaint against him for physical injuries at Camp Crame, which led to their participation in a marriage reconciliation program.

When Eleazar confronted Fortuna at his office on Monday, the latter admitted to being drunk at that time but said he was just trying to warn the teenagers about thieves lurking at the housing unit.

A recording of the incident taken by a neighbor, however, verified the boys’ version of the events.

“When I saw that video, it felt like I was slapped, too,” Villacruel’s father said.