Rookie cop arrested for shooting tricycle driver

MANILA, Philippines—A rookie policeman was arrested after he allegedly shot and wounded a tricycle driver who had overtaken him while he was driving a motorcycle with his wife and a child riding tandem on Friday night in Quezon City, police said.

Apparently not content with shooting Lauro Lorenzo in the leg, PO1 Edison Canaveral handcuffed the wounded tricycle driver, a police report on the incident said.

Fortunately for the victim, some law enforcers assigned to the Novaliches police station investigated the  commotion in Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon and arrested Canaveral, the report said.

Station commander Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo said Canaveral, who is assigned to the National Capital Region Police Office in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City,  was turned over to the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit.

Canaveral’s wife, Charmaine, told reporters on Saturday that while she did not see the shooting, she presumed her husband did it in self-defense as she had earlier seen the tricycle driver holding a knife. Police said, however, that no knife was found on Lorenzo.

Both Canaveral and Lorenzo were cruising on Damong Maliit Street  in Jordan Heights Subdivision at around 7:30 p.m. Friday when an altercation ensued between them. Canaveral’s wife claimed that Lorenzo, suddenly sped up from behind them and overtook them, nearly causing their motorcycle to lose balance.

After that initial altercation, the policeman dropped his wife and the child off at a safe distance.

“He came back a few minutes later and waited for the other man,” Pedrozo said, citing Lorenzo’s account.

Upon spotting the 43-year-old tricycle driver, the rookie cop allegedly shot Lorenzo in the right leg with his .45-caliber service pistol.

Lorenzo was taken to the East Avenue Medical Center for treatment.

The policeman’s wife claimed  it was the tricycle driver who started the ruckus and and that he got off his vehicle and pulled out a bladed weapon.

Pedrozo said, however, that he found out later that it was not the first time Canaveral figured in a case of road rage.

“We learned that last year when he was still a trainee, he also shot an FX driver in another traffic altercation,” the Pedrozo said, adding he did not know, however, what happened to that case.

Canaveral’s wife denied that there was a similar incident in the past.