Metro Briefs

Navotas cop in Christmas Eve shooting charged

Charges of attempted homicide have been filed against the Navotas City policeman who fired at a group of men, wounding seven of them, in Caloocan City on Christmas Eve.

Earlier, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Director Guillermo Eleazar, said that PO1 Danilo Tiempo would also face an administrative case for grave misconduct for indiscriminately firing his guns.

According to an NCRPO report, Tiempo shot several people who were playing cara y cruz on Kawal Street at Barangay 28, Caloocan City around 11 p.m. on Dec. 24.

The victims were identified as Anthony Claid Solero, 29; Oliver Panican, 32; Marvin Borres, 40; Jayrold Balais, 28; Wilmer Cabulao, 36; Joel Ramos; 37; and a 16-year-old boy. They were taken to hospitals for treatment.

Tiempo fled after the shooting but surrendered on Christmas morning to Eleazar and Caloocan police chief, Senior Supt. Restituto Arcangel, saying he shot the victims in self-defense. He claimed that the victims earlier figured in a fight with his father who was also playing cara y cruz.

When he heard about the news, Tiempo said he rushed to his father’s aid. He added that he was forced to fire his guns—a 9-mm pistol and a .45-caliber pistol—because the group of men ganged up on him when he confronted them. —Mariejo S. Ramos

Driver arrested for stealing truck full of scrap metal

A truck driver who reportedly stole scrap steel bars from the company he worked for has been arrested by the Quezon City police after he told a coworker of his whereabouts.

Members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) caught Edwin Arellano at the Batangas City port on Christmas Day, three days after he went into hiding.

He now faces qualified theft charges. Arellano, who hailed from Davao City, had been working since February as a driver for Cathay Pacific Steel Corp., a company based in Novaliches, Quezon City.

The police said that the suspect, along with a helper, left their workplace compound at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 22 to deliver a truckload of scrap steel bars to Port 6 in Tondo, Manila.

But after a few minutes on the road, Arellano ordered the helper to buy beer from a store, the police added. He then drove off as soon as the helper alighted from the truck.

On the morning of Dec. 25, Arellano reportedly texted a coworker that he had abandoned the truck in Guiguinto, Bulacan. Novaliches policemen who went to the province recovered the vehicle, but not its cargo.

Later in the day, authorities tracked down the suspect at the Batangas port after he told another coworker of his whereabouts.

Port authorities also held him for being rude and drunk. Recovered from Arellano was P155,000 in cash, believed to be his earnings from selling the stolen bars. —Jhesset O. Enano