Is arrested man a suspect in Ouano murder?

POLICE yesterday arrested a member of an alleged gun-for-hire group based in Balamban town and said he will be shown to witnesses of the July 22 killing of Mandaue businessman Antonio Ouano.

Dwight Carmelotes, 26, was arrested several meters from the house of his live-in-partner in barangay Cubacub, Mandaue City, based on a warrant of arrest for another case of attempted homicide issued by the Municipal Trial Court in Asturias-Balamban.

The arrested man denied any role in the businessman’s death.

He was not declared an official suspect but “their group might be responsible for the Ouano ambush,” said Supt. James Goforth, deputy city director and head of Task Force Ouano.

Goforth said the suspect will be presented for identification by witnesses, who include the victim’s secretary who was riding with him in the vehicle, when Ouano was ambushed, and some bystanders.

Two men on a motorbike fired at Ouano, as he was driving his yellow Toyota Hilux Surf and about to turn into Ouano Avenue near the Cebu International Convention Center. It was raining hard that afternoon, making it difficult to see clearly.

Police said Carmelotes identified five other members of his group who have pending warrants of arrest for robbery.

Carmelotes was also accused of being responsible for the death of PO1 Romel Taping of the Regional Public Safety Management Battalion, who was shot to death in a beer house in barangay Arpili, Balamban town, following a heated argument last March 26.

In an interview, Carmelotes denied he was a hired assassin or that he killed the policeman. He said he was working in the beer house where Taping was killed and was just included among the accused.

While he said he knew five other members of the gun-for-hire group, Carmelotes said he was not part of it.

He said he moved to Mandaue City after the March incident and worked as a construction laborer earning P250 a day. With 11 siblings to support, Carmelotes said he was not a killer.

He was arrested by the Cebu Provincial Police Office and Mandaue City’s Investigation Detection and Management Branch (IDMB). REPORTER JUCELL MARIE P. CUYOS